LAUNCHING INTO THE sexual harassment debate in a big way, US President Donald Trump laced into Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today, tweeting that the New York Democrat would come to his office “begging” for campaign contributions and “do anything” to get them.
Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, had called for Trump’s resignation a day earlier because of allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
Gillibrand called Trump’s tweet a “sexist smear attempting to silence my voice.”
“I will not be silenced on this issue,” Gillibrand insisted.
“Neither will the women who stood up to the president yesterday,” referring to women who have accused the president of sexual misconduct.
Standing up for Gillibrand, Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., tweeted to the president:
Are you really trying to bully, intimidate and slut-shame @SenGillibrand? Do you know who you’re picking a fight with? Good luck with that, @realDonaldTrump. Nevertheless, #shepersisted.
Trump’s tweet earlier today did not directly address sexual harassment, but many have questioned whether he me. He tweeted:
A day earlier, Gillibrand said Trump should resign because there were credible accusations against him.
And barring that, she said, “Congress should investigate the multiple sexual harassment and assault allegations against him.”
Trump donated $4,800 to Gillibrand’s Senate campaign in 2010, according to federal campaign finance records. Before launching his presidential campaign, Trump frequently bestowed donations on politicians of both parties.
Trump’s tweet inflamed Democrats who said the president was again debasing a woman.
Trump had not responded to earlier resignation calls from three male senators, Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Democrats Cory Booker of New Jersey and Jeff Merkley of Oregon.
Hours later, Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono also called for the president to step down, declaring that Trump’s “tweet against Kirsten was just another example of his misogyny.”
“He is a liar. He is an admitted sexual predator and the only thing that will stop him is his resignation,” Hirono said.
He not only owes Kirsten an apology, he owes an apology to our entire country, particularly the women in this country.
Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell called Trump’s tweet “an ugly and suggestive tweet, and we all know what he was trying to say there, and it is beneath the office of the presidency.”
Another Democrat John Yarmuth called Trump “a cancer on the country, and a truly disgraceful human being.”
More than a dozen women came forward during last year’s campaign, many in the wake of the Access Hollywood tape in which Trump is heard bragging about committing sexual assault, to say that the celebrity businessman had harassed them.
With each day seeming to bring new headlines that force men from positions of power, four of Trump’s accusers re-upped their yesterday , believing the national movement on sexual harassment should force change at the White House too.
Trump has denied the claims. In a heated exchange with reporters in the White House briefing room, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders steadfastly dismissed accusations against the Republican president and suggested the issue had been litigated in Trump’s favour on Election Day.
Sanders also promised that the White House would provide a list of eyewitnesses and corroborating evidence to exonerate Trump.
Nearly 24 hours later, the White House sent along an email that, citing news reports that quote witnesses, only offered rebuttals to two of the accusations.
To his accusers, the rising #MeToo movement is an occasion to ensure he is at last held accountable.
“It was heartbreaking last year. We’re private citizens and for us to put ourselves out there to try and show America who this man is and how he views women, and for them to say, ‘Eh, we don’t care,’ it hurt,” Samantha Holvey said yesterday.
The former beauty queen claimed that Trump ogled her and other Miss USA pageant contestants in their dressing room in 2006.
“Let’s try round two,” she said. “The environment’s different. Let’s try again.”
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