On March 31st, President Trump proclaimed April as National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. Nobody thought the best way to kick off National Sexual Assault Awareness & Prevention Month would be to praise somebody accused of sexual harassment. But that is exactly what President Trump did this week, taking time to defend his friend Bill O’Reilly from Fox News. O’Reilly has recently settled out of court with five women who have accused him of sexual harassment.
Most people expected the President would send a message, extolling the need to protect women, children and men from sexual harassment in the workplace. Instead, (despite O’Reilly paying $13 million in damages to settle out of court) Trump defended O’Reilly, stating ” I don’t think Bill did anything wrong. I think he’s a person I know well — he is a good person.” It’s like Trump coming out against athletes using performance enhancing drugs, and then stating how much he liked and admired Lance Armstrong for everything he accomplished.
Some people were astounded that Trump would even announce a Sexual Awareness Month, as the President himself is no stranger to sexual harassment accusations. During the 2016 campaign, an Access Hollywood tape surfaced in which Trump boasted about his ability to sexually assault women, saying he can “grab ’em [women] by the pussy” because he’s a celebrity. After the tape surfaced, more than a dozen women publicly accused Trump of sexually assaulting, groping, or otherwise harassing them over the course of his several decades in public life. He then defended himself by insinuating that the women were too ugly for him to sexually assault. The whole episode confused many people, especially Lebowski (The Dude), who reportedly said “I just don’t get it man”.
