President Joe Biden met with state and local officials at the White House on Friday, asking them how to get more men to support Democrats in the midterm elections.
“How in making the case of the freedom men have, what do you do to — other than to sort of embarrass men into getting into the argument, and voting the right way on this issue?” Biden asked during a roundtable discussion about the issue of abortion in view of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
Durham, North Carolina, Mayor Elaine O’Neal responded to the president’s question, bringing up the idea of taking away men’s access to the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra.
“Viagra. If you start to talk about taking away the rights for men to take it, what do we have?” she asked.
O’Neal also pointed to “medical procedures” that men could have, alluding to vasectomies, to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
“We don’t talk about that because those are very personal and intimate issues, but I do believe that it is a must that we focus in on what men can do to contribute physically to the making of a child or not making of a child,” she said.
“Okay,” Biden replied after listening intently to the proposal and moving on to another speaker.
Judge Lina Hidalgo from Harris County, Texas, lamented that the Texas trigger law on Roe v. Wade made it illegal to have an abortion from the moment of conception.
She noted to the president that their conversation was occurring on Women’s Equality Day.
“As we celebrate Women’s Equality Day, we have everything but equality when it comes to this issue,” she said.
Biden expressed his confidence that women would rise up and vote in opposition to Republicans after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
“They have no idea about how you’re going to hear women roar on this issue, and it’s going to be consequential,” he said.
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