After a day of members from both parties condemning Minnesota Senator Al Franken’s misconduct toward a female radio reporter back in 2006, you just knew President Donald Trump wouldn’t be able to resist weighing in—even though he’s been totally silent on the allegations of child sexual abuse against Roy Moore, the GOP Senate candidate in Alabama.
Donald Trump is a man who lives in a massive, gilded glass house, as the figure of speech goes. He’s a man who built an empire while manicuring a reputation as a womanizing member of the nouveau riche—who used shock jock radio host Howard Stern’s show to admit he gropes his own wife in public and repeatedly objectified and demeaned the women in his life.
More than a dozen women have come forward to accuse him of sexual assault. And let’s never forget how Trump—who once correctly bragged that he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue without losing votes—still managed to become president even after the infamous Access Hollywood tape was published, which featured the then-reality TV star bragging about being famous enough to indiscriminately sexually assault any woman who caught his eye.
None of this is to excuse the junior Democratic senator’s actions in any way—the Los Angeles-based news anchor says Franken aggressive kissed and groped with without her consent, actions he did not deny in a lengthy apology released yesterday.
But a hearty condemnation of Franken’s reprehensible behavior feels a bit rich coming from Trump in particular. For his sake, the president would do well to remember just how fragile his own glass house really is.