If elected, Hillary Clinton won’t be the only woman coming to the White House. Clinton announced at a town hall event in Philadelphia on Monday night that, if she gets to the Oval Office, she intends to make sure that a full 50% of her Cabinet is female.
At the MSNBC-hosted town hall meeting, Clinton made a commitment to follow in the footsteps of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In a question, host Rachel Maddow referenced the Canadian leader, who, in his 2015 campaign, promised to ensure that, if elected, half of his staff would be female. After winning the election, he quickly followed through on his promise, appointing 15 women to his Cabinet.
“Would you make that same pledge?” Maddow asked.
Clinton didn't hesitate. “I am going to have a Cabinet that looks like America, and 50% of America is women,” she answered.
It would be a significant change from the present composition of the leaders of the land. The current Cabinet under President Obama is less than one-third female, with 16 men and seven women.
Clinton has not hesitated to call herself a feminist, advocating equal pay for women, and promoting reproductive rights. Later in the evening, she responded to a question about what it means to her to be a feminist by pointing out that women are still not equal in the workforce. “I believe I am a feminist because I believe that women deserve the same rights as men in every aspect of our economy and our society, here at home and around the world,” she said, according to Yahoo.