Dear Kayleigh McEnany:
If, one day, I am lucky enough to be blessed with a daughter of my own, I would want her to share many of your qualities. Your education pedigree speaks volumes for your work ethic — Georgetown, Harvard, and Cambridge are universities I have never even dreamed of attending.
You have managed to elevate yourself and become a voice in many of today’s political forums.
Almost every day, I watch you stand up for your opinion and speak your mind, even if it goes against popular opinion, even if it earns you ridicule or negative feedback on the internet. For these qualities, I do feel like you are a very admirable person.
However, that is where I draw the line. Kayleigh, you — and women like you — shake me to my very core.
The more I watch you explain away and defend Donald Trump’s actions, the more you become distorted in my eyes. You twist yourself into a lesser version of a Stepford Wife, unrecognizable as an educated or empowered woman.
Recently, former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey equated Beyonce lyrics to Trump’s horrifying “locker room talk” on the Access Hollywood bus.
It seems that she has misunderstood the qualms people have with Trump’s comments. It is not the language he used. We are all adults here — we have all heard these words before. It is the fact that Donald Trump openly bragged about sexually assaulting women and getting away with it because he is rich and famous.
I watched you try to smooth this over on “Anderson Cooper 360°” on Oct. 12..
“Look, when you go back and watch it, it says ‘…women let you do this when you are a star.’ There are despicable comments… I don’t think he was condoning sexual assault. He said he starts to kiss a woman and then they let him do X, Y or Z. That implies consent, first of all,” you said. “I don’t think he was advocating sexual assault. You might think he’s gone around assaulting women, I don’t think that’s the case. I think… voters will make up their own mind.”
I am wondering what it will take for you to admit that what he was doing was bragging about getting away with sexual assault. I am wondering how you can be a woman and hear his lewd comments and still attempt to explain them away. I am wondering why you think it’s okay for a woman to be intimidated into silence by his wealth and status and justify it by saying that they have given him consent. This is disgusting and alarming, especially coming from another woman.
I know you are a smart woman, but I would not claim to know anything beyond that. You are a mystery. Maybe you are simply using the platform you have now to make a name for yourself before beginning your own political career.
Maybe you sincerely believe women deserve to be treated in the manner that Trump brags about. Maybe you are just the kind of person who does not like to admit when they are wrong. If the latter option is the case, it is never too late to admit that you have seen the error of your ways.
“One, that as women, we must stand up for ourselves. The second, as women, we must stand up for each other,” said Michelle Obama. “Finally, as women, we must stand up for justice for all.”
Kayleigh, you are a woman of influence with a platform and the ability to stand up for women who have no voice of their own. You could do so much for so many others, not just women.
Why do you use your voice to defend such a poor excuse for a man, such a poor excuse for a human being?