The allegations of sexual assault and misconduct by 16 women against US President Donald Trump have resurfaced recently, as he has been criticised for what some perceive as hypocritical criticisms against Democratic Senator Al Franken, who has been accused of sexual assault and misconduct himself by multiple women, including one who claims that Franken groped and kissed her without her consent backstage at a USO show.
Trump is right to criticise Franken for these actions, but it is not right to ignore the fact that he has done this to women himself and pretty much absolve himself of that because being “a star” makes it okay for him to grab women’s genitalia.
It is also wrong of him to openly condemn Franken, but say nothing about Republican Chief Justice Roy Moore, who has allegedly sexually assaulted a number of girls under the age of 16, with one girl claiming that he came onto her sexually when she was 14 and he was 32.
Trump is fine with that, because Moore is a Republican. The only thing he’s said about Moore is that he’s behind him, meaning he doesn’t mind the fact that he is a paedophilic rapist. Franken, however, who non-consensually kissed and groped a handful of adult women, has been condemned by the President. This suggests a double standard, like Trump doesn’t really mind any kind of sexual abuse (since he’s done plenty of it himself) – he’s simply using it as an excuse to slam a Democrat.
Condemning Franken was the first time Trump addressed sexual misconduct
Trump’s comments that condemned Al Franken for the allegations against him were the first time that he has at all addressed any of the recent sexual misconduct allegations. There have been allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, comedian Louis CK, filmmaker James Toback, Jeffrey Tambor, Charlie Sheen, Steven Seagal, Sylvester Stallone, Ben Affleck, ex-President George HW Bush, animator Chris Savino, Amazon Studios boss Roy Price, celebrity chef John Besh, journalist Mark Halperin, NPR editor Michael Oreskes, Vox.com boss Lockhart Steele, half of the ministers in Westminster, and of course, Roy Moore and Al Franken.
Franken has served two terms in the Senate and has publicly apologised for his sexual misconduct against model Leeann Tweeden, who said that Franken’s actions against her at a USO show in the Middle East made her feel “disgusted and violated.” Trump commented on the picture of Franken where it looks as though he is groping Tweeden while she’s asleep.
Trump’s tweet in response to the Franken allegations refer to the Senator as “Al Frankenstien [sic]” (misspelling the title of Mary Shelley’s seminal gothic horror novel “Frankenstein”). He said that the photograph is “really bad” and “speaks a thousand words.” Trump also rhetorically asked, “Where do his hands go [in the other five pictures] while she sleeps?”
Trump’s hypocrisy here really takes the cake
However, since 16 women have accused Trump himself of similar inappropriate sexual behaviour. Trump condemned Franken for “last week” condemning sexual misconduct and disrespect against women when it is now revealed that he’s been doing it himself. But the President is still condemning people for it now, over a year after his own assaults and misconduct and inappropriate behaviour came flooding out in a series of allegations.
There’s always hypocrisy in politics, but this really, really takes the cake.
Plus, Trump is not condemning the actions of Roy Moore, because he’s a Republican. The President is happy to called Al Franken a monster for groping a sleeping woman, but he won’t say a single bad word about Roy Moore, the man who rapes 14-year-old girls. He keeps bending around the matter, saying, “Alabama should take the decision” of whether or not Moore can keep his seat. It’s ridiculous.
