By Jon Queally, staff writer for Common Dreams
To watch this video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qaDjashx7g
During the full segment in which the montage appeared, Hayes slammed comments made Friday by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders who argued that Trump's past behavior—unlike that of Sen. Al Franken's, who Trump criticized this week as "really bad"—is not an issue because the president never admitted guilt and has always denied the allegations made against him.
As the floodgates have certainly opened in positive
ways over recent weeks in terms of women feeling more empowered and secure in
speaking publicly about the men—often those in positions of power—who have
sexually assaulted or harassed them over the years, the wave of revelations
have also brought re-newed focus on the previous and numerous accusations
levied against the nation's most powerful man: President Donald J. Trump.
While an infamous recording released during last
year's campaign in which Trump openly talked about how he used his wealth and
fame to prey on women, the shifting national conversation about sexual
misconduct—and the "hypocritical"
way in which Trump injected himself into that conversation this
week—has led many to argue that the numerous women who have already publicly
accused Trump of sexual assault or harassment should be given further and
renewed hearing.
Offering a stitched video montage of multiple
women recounting how Trump sexually assaulted them over the years, MSNBC's Chris Hayes on Friday night said,
"A reminder that at least 15 women have accused Donald Trump on the record
of unwanted physical contact. Listen for the patterns in their
stories."
During the full segment in which the montage appeared, Hayes slammed comments made Friday by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders who argued that Trump's past behavior—unlike that of Sen. Al Franken's, who Trump criticized this week as "really bad"—is not an issue because the president never admitted guilt and has always denied the allegations made against him.
That stance, argued Hayes,
doesn't hold water given what Trump was heard openly admitting in the infamous Access Hollywood tape that emerged
during the campaign.
"The President has admitted to
wrongdoing," Hayes said. "He has, we’ve all heard it. Because he
bragged to Billy Bush about getting away with exactly, precisely the kind of
behavior Franken is accused of and worse."
Journalist Gideon Lichfield, writing for Quartz on Saturday, says there's
"one man in America who continues to be 'safe' from sexual harassment
allegations." And that man is Trump.
He writes:
Nobody can deny the ground has shifted in America. Formerly invincible men are tumbling one by one as victims come out with their stories of sexual assault. Some, like Harvey Weinstein, were already fading from power, but others, like Louis CK, were still at the height of it.
Yet one man
continues to defy America’s new moral norm: its president.
Seventeen women have
accused Donald Trump of sexual harassment. Their claims are more numerous and
no less credible than those against Roy Moore, the Republican candidate for
senator in Alabama.
Senate leader Mitch McConnell said this week,
“I believe the women” who accused Moore, and that he “should step aside.” But
asked if he believes the women who accused Trump, McConnell refused to answer.
Trump’s position: Every one of
those 17 women is lying.
And so, Lichfield laments, "Yes, the
ground has shifted, but some still stand high enough on it to escape the cold,
swirling waters of justice. In other words, it's still, in the end, about
power. Trump's power is that the party still needs him (or believes it does).
That means it will blatantly ignore accusations that would put any other man on
the street, if not in jail."