In the wake of Congressmen John Conyers and Trent Franks and Senator Al Franken being pushed out for sexual harassment, one question is almost too obvious–why isn’t Donald Trump following them out the door? Well, in the last few days, a number of Senate Democrats have been asking that very question.
It started earlier this week, when Bernie Sanders of Vermont dropped what has become a typical truth bomb on Twitter.
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
Later that day, Sanders told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he didn’t see any difference between the Franken and Trump situations. Watch here.
Bernie Sanders on his tweet suggesting Trump should "think about resigning": Franken "acknowledged that he acted inappropriately," while the President basically acknowledged he was "assaulting women, and well over a dozen women have made that complaint. And what happens to him?” pic.twitter.com/Jm7y2tZDQC
— CNN (@CNN) December 7, 2017
Sanders said that Franken admitted what he did, and had enough in him to “ask forgiveness” before resigning. In contrast, Trump openly admitted on the Access Hollywood tape that he molested numerous women. It didn’t sit well with Sanders that Trump has essentially said about his behavior, “It’s fine, it’s okay.”
Later that day, Jeff Merkley of Oregon chimed in.
Enough is enough. @MooreSenate should drop out of the Alabama Senate race right now. @realDonaldTrump should also resign with his track record of horrific conduct towards more than 17 women.
— Jeff Merkley (@JeffMerkley) December 8, 2017
Merkley was reiterating what he said on that day’s edition of “MTP Daily,” in which he said that Trump “certainly has a track record” of debauched behavior around women.
Cory Booker of New Jersey joined the chorus on Saturday night, while campaigning for Doug Jones in Alabama. He told VICE News that from where he was sitting, Trump should have done the same thing that Franken did–“do the honorable thing” and resign. Booker pointed out–rightly–that Trump faces “more serious allegations” than Franken did, and “the fact pattern on him is far more damning” than that of Franken.
Sanders doubled down on his previous point on Sunday’s “Meet the Press.” While cautioning that he didn’t think there was quite enough to impeach Trump, he let it be known that he was disgusted at the “absurdity” of Trump not having enough in him to resign after taking pride in degrading women on tape.
It goes without saying that this is a winning strategy. After all, it says a lot about the GOP base that the Access Hollywood tape didn’t instantly end Trump’s campaign. As long as Trump remains in office, the powers that be in the GOP have no moral authority to say anything about Franken or Conyers.
For the better part of two decades, the GOP has hung Bill Clinton’s indiscretions around the Democrats. The longer that Trump stays in the White House, the longer that effort looks like a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Trump probably knows this. After all, since Sanders, Merkley, and Booker called him out, we have yet to see any angry tweets from him. Perhaps he knows that they have him busted.
(featured image courtesy Booker’s official Senate page)
