Jake Tapper: It's 'morally bankrupt' to be outraged over Harvey Weinstein but not Trump, and vice versa
On Tuesday, former President Barack Obama and 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton joined the growing list of people announcing their disgust over Hollywood producer and Democratic donor Harvey Weinstein's decades of alleged sexual harassment. Republicans had been pressing Clinton for a response, but "we have counted at least 11 women who have accused President Trump of sexual harassment or sexual assault on the record," Jake Tapper said on CNN's The Lead. "These women deserve our attention, too, even as those close to the president try to suggest otherwise."
Tapper played a clip of RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel telling Wolf Blitzer on Monday that it was unfair and disrespectful to compare the Weinstein and Trump allegations because Trump "didn't have women coming forward." "Yeah, he did," Tapper said. "He had lots of women coming forward."
"Those who express outrage at one sexual harasser and not another because of the first harasser's political views?" he said. "That is morally bankrupt." Sean Hannity made a similar "cogent point" about selective moral outrage by Democrats, Tapper said, but Hannity "hosted sexual harasser Bill O'Reilly on his show two weeks ago. ... Look, this shouldn't be hard, and it shouldn't be partisan," he said. Whether it's Weinstein or Trump or Roger Ailes or Bill Cosby, "these allegations are worthy of reporting and outrage." Watch below. Peter Weber
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
October 6 editorial cartoonsCartoons Monday’s political cartoons include bad news overload, Donald Trump repeatedly crossing a red line, and the Statue of Liberty fallen on hard times
-
Scorching hot sauces that pack a punchThe Week Recommends The best sauces to tingle your lips and add a fiery kick to your food
-
Syria’s strange post-Assad electionThe Explainer Sunday’s limited vote ‘suited the phase Syria is undergoing’, says interim president
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denialSpeed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feudSpeed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protestersSpeed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoffSpeed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsionSpeed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot
-
Oregon sues to stop Trump military deploymentSpeed Read The president wants to send the National Guard into Portland
