September 30, 2018

Kellyanne Conway Just Said “I’m a Victim of Sexual Assault”

But “you have to be responsible for your own conduct.” 

Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway appeared on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday morning to discuss this week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. During the discussion with host Jake Tapper, Conway emphasized that the hearings were not a criminal trial or “a meeting of the #MeToo movement.”

She also revealed that she herself has been a victim of sexual assault.

“I feel very empathetic, frankly, for victims of sexual assault and sexual harassment and rape. I’m a victim of sexual assault,” she said. But then added, “I don’t expect Judge Kavanaugh, or Jake Tapper, or Jeff Flake, or anybody to be held responsible for that. You have to be responsible for your own conduct.” 

Conway noted that media comparisons to Bill Cosby, who last week was sentenced to between three and 10 years in prison for sexual assault, are unfair. Tapper responded by saying he was sorry she had to go through an assault. He also tried to ask her about working for a president who has been accused of sexual assault himself. Conway told Tapper not to conflate the two, adding, “I work for Trump because he’s so good to the women who work for him, and he’s so good to the women of this country.”

She also called this week’s hearings a “sham” and “raw partisan politics,” and said she doesn’t expect any of the Democrats on the committee that questioned Ford and Kavanaugh to change their vote following the FBI investigation of Ford’s allegations. That limited investigation is taking place because Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) revealed Friday he would not vote for Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the high court until after such a probe is completed.

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

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So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

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