Legislator Shannon Zimmerman joked in video that women don't say what they mean

MADISON - A legislator and founder of a translation service who hopes to join the state Senate in a January special election told a university crowd in 2013 that it’s difficult to translate what women say because they don’t always say what they mean.

Video of businessman Shannon Zimmerman’s attempt at humor at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls surfaced this week as he makes his bid for the state Senate. The comments were made three years before Zimmerman, a Republican from River Falls, was elected to the Assembly in 2016.

Toward the end of the 2013 lecture, an audience member asked Zimmerman what language is most difficult to translate.

Zimmerman, a founder of the translation services company Sajan, said all languages are challenging and then joked that sometimes his employees’ language can be tough to translate.

Then he said, “It’s woman, right? Sometimes she says this, but she means this.”

His comment drew initial laughter and a loud “Whoa!” from one audience member, video of his lecture shows. Zimmerman clapped his hands together and laughed.

The comment emerges at a time when Hollywood and political figures are coming under scrutiny for their attitudes toward women, sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Joanna Beilman-Dulin, research director for the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, said Zimmerman’s comments were inappropriate.

“At a time when more and more women are speaking out about sexual harassment and abuse they've experienced, Shannon Zimmerman's statement that women shouldn't be believed is unacceptable,” Beilman-Dulin said in a statement.

Zimmerman on Monday said by text message said his remark was "a lighthearted attempt to address the communication barriers that exist, both in professional language translation and between the sexes." He said he was mainly directing his comment to his wife, Angel, a Sajan co-founder who attended the lecture.

"By responding in the manner I did, and as was the featured point in the best-seller, 'Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus', it helped the audience understand that the same thing being said, can mean different things," Zimmerman said in his text message.

"Anyone who knows me knows I have the highest regard and respect for woman," he added.

Zimmerman is running for the Senate seat in western Wisconsin that was vacated this month by Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls), who stepped down to become state secretary of agriculture, trade and consumer protection.

He faces Rep. Adam Jarchow of Balsam Lake in the Dec. 19 Republican primary. The winner will face Democrat Patty Schachtner, the chief medical examiner for St. Croix County, in the Jan. 16 general election.

RELATED: Bice: Lawmaker claiming he voted for budget bill was actually grounded in Amsterdam

RELATED: Ron Johnson calls on Roy Moore to drop out, Tammy Baldwin calls for ethics review of Al Franken

Columnist Daniel Bice reported Monday that Zimmerman said in a campaign news release that he had voted in favor of Gov. Scott Walker's $76 billion state budget in September when, in fact, he was grounded at an airport in Amsterdam.