Meghan Markle calling: Duchess lobbies Republican senators for paid family leave
ABC News
Meghan Markle, the duchess of Sussex, has been calling Republican senators to lobby for paid family and medical leave.
As House Democrats on Wednesday surprisingly moved to add paid family leave back into the $1.75 trillion social spending and climate policy bill -- word came that none other than Meghan Markle was lobbying senators on the issue -- personally.
In what might show that she's clued into congressional politics, she didn't go after West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin -- who doesn't support including family leave in the spending bill -- but made calls to Republicans, trying to get their votes instead.
Markle, the mother of two young children, including a daughter born in June, phoned Manchin's West Virginia colleague, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who said she first thought it was Manchin, because the caller ID was blocked, in a story first reported by Politico.
"I’m in my car. I’m driving. It says ‘caller ID blocked’," the senator recounted, details confirmed by her spokesman. "I thought it was Senator Manchin. His calls come in blocked. And she goes, 'Senator Capito?' I said, 'Yes?' She said, 'This is Meghan, the duchess of Sussex.'"
