The sexual assault allegations against Hollywood studio executive Harvey Weinstein and President Donald J.Trump are so strikingly similar, it’s stunning that the outcomes for each of these sexual predators has been so vastly different.
Both men have been repeatedly accused of using their fame, wealth and power to prey upon women. Both also used relationships with the press and a powerful team of lawyers to bully alleged victims and reporters but only one man has had his tenure terminated. The the other, well, became president of the United States.
“This difference says a lot, not just about the mores of Washington and Hollywood but about partisanship, power, and accountability,” argue Anna North and Ezra Klein in Vox.
“All the elements are there: the power imbalance. The putatively professional meetings that are actually settings for sexual assault. The older man trading on the connections he can offer, the plum jobs he controls, to pressure a younger woman into sex,” say North and Klein
The biggest difference is that Weinstein’s community has completely rejected him, note North and Klein, while Trump’s has not. Republicans in Congress, in particular, have stood by “their president” even in the wake of the Access Hollywood tape’s release—because they need him.
