By Natalia Castro
One of the real losers in this week’s midterms was not the right or the left — it was the #MeToo movement. This week’s midterms proved two things — that the Democrats only care about women when it is Republicans on the chopping block and that due process must prevail. What many have dubbed the “Kavanaugh Effect” is the wave of voters who voted against red-state Democrats who voted against Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation in the Senate. While it is good these obstructers are out of office, this whole process has only delegitimized the real #MeToo movement and taken attention away from real abusers — four of which are now in office representing the Democratic Party.
Senators in Florida, Indiana, North Dakota and Missouri who voted against Kavanaugh have all been voted out of office in favor or Republicans.
As Senator Lindsey Graham noted in a press release, “Their constituents held them responsible for being part of a despicable smear campaign orchestrated by the left… These Democrats showed more allegiance to the left than to their constituents who support qualified, conservative judges like Brett Kavanaugh. Their votes against Kavanaugh crystallized how out of touch they had become on major issues in the eyes of their constituents who supported President Trump. Liberal Democratic Senators and activists efforts to destroy Brett Kavanaugh ended up destroying Red State Democrats.”
Already, two individuals who accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct have come forward admitting it was a political sham. The constituents in these states clearly saw the left’s game for what it was — a lie.
But what the left did is far greater than putting the life and livelihood of Kavanaugh on the line, it put the entire #MeToo movement on the line — putting risk to real victims.
As a result of this political fraud, more and more people have been questioning the validity of sexual misconduct claims. The movement was intended to make women more comfortable with speaking up about abuse, but now that experience is once again shadowed by fear.
As Tiana Lowe of Politico explains, “As women bravely come forward with their own stories of sexual assault in the wake of the Kavanaugh hearing, #MeToo stands on the precipice of a dangerous transition from individual and evidence-backed justice to politically charged revenge… Creating a climate where rape victims feel comfortable in reporting their crimes to the police while material evidence is still abundant should be a bipartisan effort.”
While Democrats who led this vile attack on Kavanaugh were dismissed, Democrat constituents still backed known abusers in at least four races.
In California, Tony Cardenas won a congressional seat despite an open lawsuit alleging Cardenas drugged and assaulted a 16 year old girl, as well as claims he touched a young girl inappropriately while taking her to sports practices.
In Virginia, Representative Bobby Scott faces allegations made by a former aide of sexual harassment and wrongful termination for refusing sexual advances.
In New Jersey, Senator Bob Menendez won reelection despite evidence that he engaged in sexual relations with underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic.
Justice Department prosecutors noted in 2015, “As would be done in the normal course, the Government took responsible steps to investigate these serious criminal allegations, which were not so ‘easily disprovable,’ as the defendants suggest. Some eyewitnesses described a party attended by defendant Melgen in Casa de Campo—where defendant Melgen has a home and where defendant Menendez often visited—involving prostitutes… defendant Menendez defended himself with public statements that are easily disprovable. Specifically, he repeated several times that he had only flown on defendant Melgen’s private jet on three occasions. That representation is demonstrably false. Confronted with corroborating evidence of such serious crimes, it would have been an inexcusable abdication of responsibility not to investigate these allegations.”
Finally, in Minnesota, Keith Ellison has won the election for Attorney General despite an abundance of evidence that he has engaged in domestic violence against longtime girlfriend Karen Monahan.
Monahan has said via Twitter, “I was asked if my party @MinnesotaDFL @DNC believed me when I broke my silence regarding @keithellison… No, they don’t. I’ve been smeared, threatened, isolated from my own party. I provided medical records from 2017, stating on two different Dr. Visits, I told them about the abuse and who did it. My therapist released records stating I have been dealing and healing from the abuse.”
All of these men deserve due process and are innocent unless proven guilty, but their victims deserve for that process to take place. Unlike Kavanaugh, there is no energy on the left to even bring these allegations to light. The message is clear — the #MeToo movement only really matters when it is convenient for Democrats.
It is a good thing some of the Senators who led the Kavanaugh witch hunt are out of office, but in order for the #MeToo movement to be real, it cannot be based on hypocrisy. Real allegations must be taken seriously and fake allegations must be investigated and dismissed. This year the Democrats prevented both of those things from happening and they should be ashamed.
Natalia Castro is the multimedia manager at Americans for Limited Government.
