This week alone, two members of Congress — Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) — resigned as a result of numerous allegations of sexual harassment or assault, and some are saying at least 20-30 more members of Congress could be facing similar charges in the weeks ahead.
And yet, President Donald Trump, who has been accused of sexual assault by 19 different women and bragged to Billy Bush of Access Hollywood about how he enjoys kissing and grabbing women against their will, remains in the White House. Is that fair? Is there a serious double standard on the issue when it comes to the president?
On Saturday, Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said Trump should indeed resign:
“I just watched Al Franken do the honorable thing and resign. My question is — why isn’t Donald Trump doing the same thing? Who has more serious allegations against him, with more women who have come forward.”
Booker has been joined by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who also believes we should hold Trump to the same standard as Congress and media figures who recently resigned from positions of power:
“The president should resign because he certainly has a track record with more than 17 women of horrific conduct.”
And Senator Bernie Sanders is also calling on Trump to step aside, tweeting out this on Thursday:
We have a president who acknowledged on tape that he assaulted women. I would hope that he pays attention to what's going on and think about resigning.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 7, 2017
Instead of addressing these three calls for him to tender his resignation, Trump was in Pensacola, Florida, on Friday evening for a rally meant to boost the candidacy of Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore, accused of harassing young women and molesting a girl when she was only 14.
Trump said of Moore:
“We cannot afford, this country, the future of this country, cannot afford to lose a seat in the very, very close United States Senate. Get out and vote for Roy Moore!”
We also cannot afford to let men who take pleasure in the degradation and suffering of women control the levers of power in this country.
We’re better than that. Or at least we should be.
Featured Image Via Gage Skidmore for Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
