Trump’s lies about Gillibrand, accusers disgraceful
President Donald Trump took his fevered debasement of the presidency to new lows Tuesday, attacking a U.S. senator on Twitter by suggesting she “would do anything” for campaign cash.
The president said in his post: “Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a total flunky for Chuck Schumer and someone who would come to my office ‘begging’ for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them), is now in the ring fighting against Trump.”
Trump made his claim after several of the women who have accused him of sexual assault in the past held a press conference on Monday to demand accountability, and Gillibrand called on him to resign.
The women’s decision to speak out again is reasonable. The world is different than it was more than a year ago. In the heightened awareness created by the #MeToo movement, we’ve seen many prominent men lose their jobs, including a Democratic senator and a pair of congressmen from both major parties.
What’s more, the day before the accusers’ press conference, Trump’s pick to represent the country before the United Nations — Republican Nikki Haley — said the accusers were right to come forward.
“They should be heard, and they should be dealt with,” Haley said. So why not Trump? Certainly, it’s a fair question, and Gillibrand stands justified in posing it. Referencing those women and others who say that Congress should investigate Trump’s sordid past with the accusers, the New Yorker told CNN, “And those are very credible allegations of misconduct and criminal activity, and he should be fully investigated and he should resign.”
We find ourselves in surreal territory. The Denver Post editorial board has called on state lawmakers accused of sexual harassment to step down. We’ve railed against the slow progress elected officials at the state and national level are making to deal with harassment. Yet we blink when it comes to calling for Trump’s resignation, for he won his election after multiple claims of harassment were thoroughly reported and published, and then capped by Trump’s own bragging about grabbing women’s genitals captured in the infamous “Access Hollywood” video.
With so many asking the question, Trump should realize his good fortune and keep his silence. Instead, his disgusting tweet Tuesday comes after he stood by and defended Alabama’s Roy Moore, credibly accused of sexual assault of a 14-yearold girl and other abuses. It comes after Trump falsely claimed he never met the women who came forward on Monday. It comes after he has reportedly been telling those around him that he now believes the “Access Hollywood” video was faked — even though he apologized for the remarks on the campaign trail.
“I’ve said and done things I regret, and the words released today on this more than a decade-old video are one of them,” Trump said last year.
Now we see a mind so narcissistic it conjures images of receiving sexual favors from a Senate candidate and so depraved it invokes them in a raw attempt to silence legitimate concern. The president ought to get out of the way of this important movement, as he has no credibility here.
Yes, asking a president to resign after he was voted into office despite his admitted sordid past with sexual assault is a big ask. But is it too much to ask that he at least act like an adult about it now?
-- Denver Post, Digital First Media