A US senator, who once posed nude for a magazine photo shoot, has been accused of sexism after declaring "thank God" when his female opponent said she had never done the same. Scott Brown, a Massachusetts Republican who helped pay for university by appearing in Cosmopolitan, was alleged to have descended into "the gutter" with his comment on Elizabeth Warren.
Asked how she funded her own education, Prof Warren, a 62-year-old Democratic ally of Barack Obama who teaches at Harvard, said she had "borrowed money", adding: "I kept my clothes on." During a radio interview, Mr Brown, 52, responded: "Thank God." He later added: "I went to the school of hard knocks. And I did whatever I had to do to pay for school." Clare Kelly, the Massachusetts Democrats' executive director, said the remarks were more suited to the "frat house, not a race for US Senate".
"Scott Brown's comments send a terrible message that even accomplished women who are held in the highest esteem can be laughingly dismissed based on their looks," she said.
Terry O'Neill, the president of the National Organization for Women, described it as a "sexist misogynistic attack".
A spokesman for the Senator said Prof Warren had been "elitist" to "look down at the decisions Scott Brown made to put himself through college".
Female colleagues also came to his defence.
The likely contest between Mr Brown and Prof Warren - who must first secure her party's nomination but is rapidly becoming a favourite of Left-wing Democratic activists - is set to be a crucial battle next year.
Mr Brown's seat was previously held by Ted Kennedy, the veteran Democrat and brother of President John F. Kennedy, before being clinched by the Republican in January last year following Mr Kennedy's death.
