Mississippi gov.: America is 'so mediocre' because 'mom is in the workplace'

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) on Tuesday asserted that America had become "so mediocre" after women started leaving the home to earn a living.

At a Washington Post Live event on child literacy, the host asked Bryant, "How did America get to be so mediocre?"

"I'm going to get in trouble -- do you want me to tell the truth?" Bryant replied. "I think both parents started working. And the mom is in the workplace."

"It's not a bad thing, I'm going to get in trouble," he added. "I can see the emails tomorrow. But now both parents are working, they're assuming their careers. That's a great American story now that women are certainly in the workplace."

"So, it's the mother's place to teach them to read?" the host wondered.

"No, no, but I think there was that loving, nurturing opportunity that both parents had a little bit of time," the governor explained. "My dad was a reader, he was a mechanic. So, he didn't go to college, but he was a reader. But he had a little bit more time with me, and today's society, parents are so challenged. Not just the mom, but the mom and the dad. They're working overtime, they're trying to balance both of them in the workplace."

Earlier this year, Bryant said that his "goal of course" was to shut down the last abortion clinic in Mississippi.

Watch this video from NBC News, broadcast June 4, 2013.