Mazie Hirono is the junior US Senator from Hawaii. In recent days, the 70 year old Hirono has been making headlines because of her brash comments about Brett Kavanaugh and the allegations that he sexually assaulted Christine Ford when they were in high school. Hirono doesn’t pull her punches — and her phrases are often laced with profanity.
In discussing the planning for the Kavanaugh hearing, Hirono told ABC News, “We’re not consulted at all. I would like to have us come together and figure out what is the best way to proceed. Not this seat of the pants stuff, and the latest being a letter from the chairman to the Democrats saying we have done everything we can to contact her—that is such bullshit I can hardly stand it.”
Hirono doesn’t pull her punches — like when she recently said the “men in this country” are causing trouble and they need to hurry up and fix things.
“Guess who’s perpetuating all of these kinds of actions?” Hirono asked. “It’s the men in this country. I just want to say to the men in this country: Just shut up and step up. Do the right thing for a change.”
Here’s what you need to know about Mazie Hirono:
1. Hirono Is an Immigrant Who Came to the US at Age Eight
Mazie Hirono
Hirono was born on a rice farm in Fukushima, Japan. The farm belonged to Hirono’s maternal grandparents. Hirono’s father, she says, was an alcoholic and a compulsive gambler, who sometimes stole her mother’s possessions and sold them so that he had more money to gamble with. Hirono says she never got to know her father well.
When she was eight years old, her mother took all of her savings and bought tickets for herself, Mazie, and Mazie’s brother to America. Hirono and her mother boarded the President Cleveland, a Pacific ocean liner, and crossed the ocean to Hawaii, traveling steerage class. Her mother worked several jobs, including one at a Japanese language newspaper, to keep the family afloat.
2. Sexual Misconduct Is a Big Issue for Her
Mazie Hirono
Hirono has gotten a lot of attention for her sharp words about Brett Kavanaugh. But for Hirono, sexual misconduct has always been a big issue — this isn’t something new.
Hirono routinely asks every nominee who comes up for approval in the Senate whether they have ever been accused of sexual misconduct. She also asks them whether they’ve ever been made to sign a non-disclosure form.
That way, Hirono says, they’re on the record: and it makes it easier to catch if it ever turns out that they told a lie about those issues.
3. She Is Battling Kidney Cancer
Mazie Hirono
Hirono announced last year that she had been diagnosed with kidney cancer. She still plans to run for re-election when her term ends, and is widely favored to win.
Hirono sometimes mentions her cancer when she’s talking about the importance of affordable health care. “Thankfully, I had health insurance,” she said in a speech on the Senate floor, during a discussion of the Affordable Care Act. “No one should have to worry about whether they can afford the health care that one day might save their life.”
4. She Married a Man Whose Pictures She Once Burned
Mazie Hirono
When she was 42, Hirono married Leighton Kim Oshima. Her friends were surprised when they heard the news: Hirono and Oshima had dated — and then broken up — 13 years ago and it hadn’t gone well. Hirono later told a reporter, laughing, “It was one of those breakups where I burned all of his pictures.”
Hirono and Kim are still married, 28 years later. Kim has a daughter from a previous relationship, who became Hirono’s step daughter.
5. She Calls Trump a Liar and a Xenophobe
Mazie Hirono
Hirono is known for being soft-spoken, but she’s also known for being tough. So perhaps it’s no surprise that this liberal senator — the only immigrant currently serving in the Senate — is intensely, vocally critical of President Trump.
“The President is very anti-immigrant. It’s a very xenophobic, nationalistic attitude,” she told Time Magazine. “Our country is made up of groups of immigrants who came here hoping for a better life. They created America. It’s a sad thing to have so many people not remember that, including Trump. His people came from another country, not to mention that his wife is an immigrant.”