George Stephanopoulos crossed a very bright line on Sunday morning while interviewing Rep. Nancy Mace. Amid the interview, the former Bill Clinton official turned "journalist" decided it wouldn't be improper or gross at all to ask Mace about her own experience with rape, supposing that she's somehow a hypocrite for supporting Donald Trump.
Yes, a national news anchor brought up a woman's rape in an attempt to shame her for her political choices. We are truly living in the worst timeline.
Just when you think members of the press can't sink any lower, they manage to outdo themselves. It doesn't matter who Mace decides to support for president. Her being raped is not relevant, and to bring it up to try to score political points is incredibly unprofessional. There are some topics you don't touch, and that's one of them. That is Mace's story to tell if she so chooses. A clown like Stephanopoulos has no right to hijack it.
What makes this so insane, though, is that Stephanopoulos worked for Bill Clinton. That would be the very same Bill Clinton who settled a sexual harassment suit with Gennifer Flowers and was accused of sexual assault by several other women. Is the standard now that if you settle a lawsuit, it doesn't count, but if you take it to a jury, it does? Because that seems like a rather ridiculous and arbitrary line to draw.
Stephanopoulos also openly roots for Joe Biden, who has been accused of sexual assault. But Mace, a victim of rape, is somehow wrong for choosing to support Trump over Biden?
Regardless, Mace is correct. Whatever one thinks of Donald Trump, he has never been convicted of or even charged with any kind of sexual crime against a woman (or anyone). The burden of evidence in a civil suit is far lower than in a criminal court (i.e. it is not "beyond a reasonable doubt"). In the case of E. Jean Carroll, she came forward right before an election year and claims to not even know what year the alleged assault happened. That a New York jury found in her favor civilly does not mean the allegations were proven.
If someone wants to assume they are true, that's their prerogative, but Stephanopoulos' suggestion about Mace, using her own rape to attack her, is disgusting. Could you imagine the outrage if a news anchor asked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez about being raped and then tried to use that to shame her for her political opinions? We'd never hear the end of it. The mediasphere would implode. There'd be congressional hearings.
Mace may not be my kind of Republican, but wrong is wrong, and Stephanopoulos needs to apologize. If he doesn't, then ABC News needs to take action. They never would have allowed a Democrat to be treated that way on air.