When Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood tape was released in October 2016, it sparked more than just outrage. It also begged the question of what Americans would consider acceptable in terms of the sexual assault of women in this country, acceptable enough to even elect a president who openly admits to assaulting women.
On Sunday, a man on a plane from Houston to Albuquerque proved exactly why that question was so important.
According to ABC News:
‘A man arrested for allegedly touching a woman’s breast on an airplane, according to court documents, told authorities “the president of the United States says it’s OK to grab women by their private parts.”‘
https://twitter.com/daveanthony/status/1042459310540742658
Even after the watershed moment that has been the #MeToo movement, pervasive beliefs about sexual assault and the violation of women’s bodies persist. The current president, who told jokes and laughed at Dr. Christine Blasey Ford when she came forward to tell her story of sexual assault at the hands of Trump’s SCOTUS nominee, the alleged attempted rapist Brett Kavanaugh, has not made progress easier.
‘Bruce Alexander was on a Houston-to-Albuquerque flight on Sunday when he twice leaned forward and touched the breast of a woman sitting in front of him, court records show.
‘The woman, who wasn’t identified, told authorities she thought the first of two touchings may have been accidental, while the second clearly wasn’t.’
https://twitter.com/Patsme/status/1054627004916600832
In court documents, it’s reported that the woman told her attacker to stop.
‘She rose from her seat, turned around and told the passenger behind her that she didn’t know why he thought it was OK and he needed to stop.’
Guy gropes sleeping woman on a plane. Justifies his sexual assault with: "The president says it's okay."
Excellent times we live in. Tremendous. The best.
Bring on nuclear annihilation, please.https://t.co/AR1EGXnAom
— Pants (@sarahnoid) October 23, 2018
None of this should be considered tolerable or okay, and President Trump is not making things any easier for 51 percent of the population.
Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license
