--- title: Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao Shares 'Me Too' Moment description: "Things change, times change and it's not worth my while to go back and revisit those negative moments," Chao said in an interview. canonical: https://time.com/5049938/elaine-chao-sexual-harassment/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-05T16:49:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:53.363Z article:section: Politics og:title: Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao Shares 'Me Too' Moment og:description: "I think that's a dirty little secret that a lot of women have held for a long time." og:url: https://time.com/5049938/elaine-chao-sexual-harassment/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c97063b5d727cb8/6988d42822fb85166be21cfe/elaine-chao-trump-mika.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Holds Discussion On Infrastructure And U.S. Economy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao Shares 'Me Too' Moment twitter:description: "I think that's a dirty little secret that a lot of women have held for a long time." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c97063b5d727cb8/6988d42822fb85166be21cfe/elaine-chao-trump-mika.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao Shares 'Me Too' Moment > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Any Type Of Sexual Harassment Can Cause Psychological Harm [Watch (HLS stream): Any Type Of Sexual Harassment Can Cause Psychological Harm](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ieqFRQHx.m3u8) (1:19)  _Published 2017-11-09. Any form of sexual harassment, whether verbal or physical, has the power to cause psychological harm, according to a new study._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 5, 2017 4:49 PM UTC  WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 15: U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao delivers remarks during the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's 'Infrastructure Week' program May 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. Chao highlighted the repair of the I-85 Atlanta highway bridge that collapsed March 30 as an example of public-private work that helped repair the damage in record time. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 15: U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao delivers remarks during the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's 'Infrastructure Week' program May 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. Chao highlighted the repair of the I-85 Atlanta highway bridge that collapsed March 30 as an example of public-private work that helped repair the damage in record time. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 5, 2017 4:49 PM UTC [Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao](https://twitter.com/POLITICOLive/status/938066329969610753) said Tuesday that she had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace at some point in her career, but said women cannot let those experiences define them. “I think that’s a dirty little secret that a lot of women have held for a long time. Many of us, especially I think in years past have experienced it,” Chao said during an interview at [Politico’s Women Rule Summit](https://www.politico.com/live-events/2017/12/05/women-rule-fifth-annual-summit-243631). “But the environment was very different.” Chao did not share details of her experience, as many women have done in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein allegations, because the person was “still around” and, she said, because it’s not worth it. “Things change, times change and it’s not worth my while to go back and revisit those negative moments,” she said. Chao took the moment to express to the crowd that it is her hope that other women who face challenges in life overcome them. “You will go through difficulties in your life and I hope you will all triumph. And when you triumph you need to help others along the way, but you also must have magnanimity of spirit,” she said. “I will fight for other women and I will stand up for other women, but of your own, you gotta let it go. Because otherwise it’s too corrosive, it’s too negative and it does you a double injury because it holds you back.” Chao spoke at a time when allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace have shaken Washington in a way that hasn’t been seen in some time. Several women have come forward with accusations against members of Congress, including longtime Rep. John Conyers, who[ announced his retirement](http://time.com/5049821/john-conyers-retires-endorses-son/) from the House of Representatives on Tuesday amid calls to resign. And last week, [more than 200 women](http://time.com/5039104/we-too-are-survivors-223-women-in-national-security-sign-open-letter-on-sexual-harassment/) in the national security community signed on to an open letter on sexual harassment. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5049938/elaine-chao-sexual-harassment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5049938/elaine-chao-sexual-harassment/"},"headline":"Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao Shares 'Me Too' Moment","datePublished":"2017-12-05T16:49:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:53:53.363Z","description":"\"Things change, times change and it's not worth my while to go back and revisit those negative moments,\" Chao said in an interview.","url":"https://time.com/5049938/elaine-chao-sexual-harassment/","keywords":["sexual harassment","Congress","White House","'me too'"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c97063b5d727cb8/6988d42822fb85166be21cfe/elaine-chao-trump-mika.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c97063b5d727cb8/6988d42822fb85166be21cfe/elaine-chao-trump-mika.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Holds Discussion On Infrastructure And U.S. Economy","caption":"U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Holds Discussion On Infrastructure And U.S. Economy","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/sexual-harassment/","name":"sexual harassment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5049938/elaine-chao-sexual-harassment/","name":"Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao Shares 'Me Too' Moment"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Any Type Of Sexual Harassment Can Cause Psychological Harm","description":"Any form of sexual harassment, whether verbal or physical, has the power to cause psychological harm, according to a new study.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ieqFRQHx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-11-09T22:11:43.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ieqFRQHx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5049938/elaine-chao-sexual-harassment/","duration":"PT1M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5049938/elaine-chao-sexual-harassment/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```