In a scathing statement on his CNN show Tuesday, host Jake Tapper used the Harvey Weinstein scandal to bash defenders of President Donald Trump like Fox News' Sean Hannity for their hypocrisy on the issue of sexual harassment allegations.
.@jaketapper: You don't get to pick & choose which sexual harassment claim you find valid based on political party. https://t.co/oV0MJWiXOH pic.twitter.com/DxyVrQkOuC
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) October 10, 2017
"Now we have counted at least 11 women who have accused President Trump of sexual harassment or sexual assault on the record," Tapper began.
"Jessica Drake said in a press conference that Mr. Trump reportedly grabbed her," he explained, "kissed her without consent and offered her money to have sex with him. Summer Zervos a contestant on 'The Apprentice' accused Mr. Trump of harassing her on multiple occasions including one where he reportedly thrust his genitals at her. Jessica Leeds told the New York Times that during a flight in the 1980s he sat next to her, lifted the armrest and began to grab her breasts and put his hands up her skirt. 'He was like an octopus, his hands were everywhere!' she said."
"And that's only three of the 11," Tapper added. "Now Mr. Trump has denied the allegations, but these women deserve our attention to. Even as those close to the president try to suggest otherwise."
"Here's Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel on CNN yesterday," he continued. "She was being asked about her call for Democrats to give back or giveaway Weinstein's political contributions as well as the crude words Mr. Trump said on the infamous 'Access Hollywood' tape."
"To even make that comparison is disrespectful to the president," she said in the video. "He didn't have eight settlements, he didn't have women coming forward..."
"He didn't have women coming forward?" Tapper asked. "Yeah he did! He had lots of women coming forward, Ms. McDaniel, we just had three of the multiple accusers."
"Those who express outrage at one sexual harasser and not another because the first sexual harasser's political views — that is morally bankrupt," Tapper said, "and this was a point made interestingly enough by Fox News anchor Sean Hannity last night, saying the left has this selective moral outrage.
"It's a cogent point," he continued, "except that very same Sean Hannity posted sexual harasser Bill O'Reilly on his show two weeks ago. O'Reilly, of course, fired from Fox News Channel after an investigation into multiple allegations of sexual harassment, including, multiple settlements."
"Look, this shouldn't be hard," he added, "and it shouldn't be partisan. It doesn't matter if it's Harvey Weinstein, or Donald Trump, or Roger Ailes, or Bill Cosby, or Bill O'Reilly, or Bill Clinton — these accusations are all worthy of reporting and outrage."
"You don't get to pick and choose which ones you find valid and outrageous based on political party," he concluded.
Tapper finished by running a video from an interview with Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump on the Howard Stern show where they laughed about him being a sexual predator.
