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Conway calls out powerful men accused of sexual misconduct by name — with two big exceptions

The White House weaponizes sexual assault accusations for partisan gain.

CREDIT: SCREENGRAB
CREDIT: SCREENGRAB

While making the cable news rounds on Friday morning ahead of President Trump’s State of the Union speech, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway called out men who have been accused of sexual misconduct by name on two occasions. But both times, she forgot to mention her boss, who has been accused of sexual assault by 14 women, and Steve Wynn, the former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee who is currently in the news for alleged serial sexual assault and harassment.

On Fox & Friends, Conway used sexual assault accusations as a political cudgel, saying Democrats “have yet to come to the table with anything except wearing black tonight, saying ‘me too’ because I guess because of Harvey Weinstein and Bill Clinton… and others.”

Conway used a similar line on CNN a short time later.

“‘Obstruct, resist, stop, don’t do it’ — that is not a message, that impedes Democracy,” she said. “Their biggest statement tonight is going to be the color of their clothing, they’re all going to wear black — what, to protest Harvey Weinstein? Or Bill Clinton?”

Republicans have tried to distance themselves from Wynn while refusing to return most of the millions of dollars they took from him. They’ve also attempted to avoid the topic of the accusations against Trump. During a CNN appearance on Sunday. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) dismissed questions about Trump reportedly paying hush money to an adult film actress, saying it “sounds like an issue that’s between the president and Mrs. Trump, because it doesn’t seem to be a workplace issue as far as I know.”

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Conway’s dismissive treatment of the issue of sexual harassment reflects the broader views of her party. Polling released in November showed that “[w]hile 79 percent of Democrats and 66 percent of independents say harassment is a serious problem — both rising over 20 points in the last six years — this number falls to 42 percent among Republicans, little changed over that same period.”