Top Democrats are doing nothing to defend women from fellow Democrats who stalk, harass and exploit women, says a statement signed by the GOP’s top press aides.
“Democrats’ hypocrisy is appalling,” the flacks say in a statement released Aug. 2, which also slams the established media for letting Democrats ignore the actions of their fellow Democrats.
“Where’s the outrage? Why aren’t leading Democrats like President Obama, Vice President Biden, and former Secretary Clinton, standing up for these women?”
“With their silence, they are sanctioning the actions of [San Diego mayor] Bob Filner and [New York mayoral candidate] Anthony Weiner and numerous others who have assaulted, harassed, and preyed on women,” said the release, which was signed by flacks for the Republican Governors Association, the Republican State Leadership Committee, the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Nine women now say Filner, the Democratic mayor of San Diego, groped or pressured them for sex.
In New York, Weiner has admitted to sending crude sexual messages, even after his 2011 resignation from Congress in disgrace for a previous correspondence over Twitter. Weiner’s wife, former Clinton aide Huma Abedin, has downplayed the behavior, prompting criticism from many Democratic feminists.
The GOP statement also makes sure to hit the nation’s Democratic-leaning political media, which happily portrayed clumsy comments by GOP candidates as representative of most Republicans in 2012, but has not pressured senior Democrats to disavow Filner and Weiner.
Obama is also mute, and his spokesman, Jay Carney, has repeatedly ducked questions on the president’s passivity over the Democratic scandals.
“Let’s be clear: Democrats made up and launched the contrived ‘war on women,’ and the media happily went along with it,” the flacks said.
“Clearly [Democrats] didn’t think through their ‘war’ strategy. It’s now backfired and exposed them as the hypocrites that they are. And since you won’t hear about that in the [establishment] media, it’s up to all of us to get the truth out,” said the memo.
In 2012, Democrats, including Obama, used the media-magnified theme of a GOP “war on women” to spur turnout by left-leaning female voters. In November, women’s turnout was higher than expected, helping Obama and other Democrats get reelected.
Top Democrats are trying to hide from the Democratic scandals, said the memo.
“Two full weeks passed before DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz could even be bothered to call for Mayor Filner’s resignation. … When Nancy Pelosi was asked about her former colleague Mayor Filner, she didn’t jump to the defense of the women involved [but] she was indignant that she was asked,” the statement said.
“In New York, Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand have ducked and dodged questions about Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer… Another New Yorker, Hillary Clinton, has stayed mum about all of it.”
“For someone who has not-so-veiled aspirations to lead her party, she’s failed to show any leadership in publicly denouncing Weiner’s habits or his candidacy,” the statement added.