As sexual harassment scandals have been toppling men in every industry, feminists have urged the importance of believing the women accusers no matter what.
But MSNBC’s Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski questioned that tenant on Friday, after the #MeToo movement took down one of her own party – Sen. Al Franken.
Speaking a day after Franken resigned with a speech on the Senate floor, after many within his own party urged him to quit, Brzezinski expressed her fear that the Democrats had gotten ahead of themselves in forcing Franken out.
‘I’m very torn apart by it,’ she said, ‘but I feel that to just be on one side of all these stories sometimes is very dangerous.’
Brzezinski said she was skeptical of the motivations of the first accuser who spoke out to accuse Franken of sexual harassment.
Mika Brzezinski (left) questioned whether all women who claim to be victims of sexual harassment and assault need to be believed
The MSNBC Morning Joe co-host questioned the core tenant of the “Me Too” movement on her show Friday morning, a day after Sen. Al Franken resigned over such allegations
Last month, former Playboy model Leeann Tweeden wrote a blog post, claiming Franken forcibly kissed when the two were on a 2006 USO tour. Tweeden also said he mocked groping her breasts while she was asleep on a flight during that tour, and provided a photo showing the despicable moment.
I’m concerned that we are being the judge, the jury and the cops here.
Brzezinski said the fact that Tweeden voted for Trump and went on Sean Hannity’s right-leaning show made her question her reasons for coming forward.
‘I see some politics there, but I haven’t brought that up every step of the way because, of course, in this “Me Too” environment you must always just believe the women. And I think that there’s a lot of reasons why we need to look at the women seriously and believe them.
‘In many cases, like, for example I spoke to accusers in Mark Halperin, to which he admits a lot of what he’s accused of doing, I spoke to them, I believe them. I’m just wondering if all women need to be believed. And I’m concerned that we are being the judge, the jury and the cops here,’ she said.
Fraken, a Democratic senator from Minnesota, took to the Senate floor on Thursday and said he would be resigning in the coming weeks over sexual harassment allegations from seven women
The first women to speak out was Leeann Tweeden who said that Franken forcibly kissed her and mocked groping her during a USO tour in 2006 (a picture of the groping incident above)
Brzezinski said she thinks politics may have played a role in Tweeden’s decision to come forward since she voted for Trump and appeared on Sean Hannity. The former Playboy model is pictured on the left in 2005 and on the right after coming forward
In the case of Franken, Brzezinski said she thinks Senate Democrats got ahead of themselves in forcing Franken to resign before he even underwent an ethics investigation.
I feel like we are, we’ve just got a machine gun out and we’re just, you know, going around the room with every man that perhaps we don’t like politically.
‘I feel like we are, we’ve just got a machine gun out and we’re just, you know, going around the room with every man that perhaps we don’t like politically,’ she said.
Brzezinski admitted that the photo of Franken pretending to grope Tweeden’s breasts was perhaps too inflammatory to keep him around, especially since it’s been used by Republicans as a counter for criticisms of candidate Roy Moore or even President Trump’s alleged sexual misconduct.
But she thinks that the Senate Democrats should have cut ties with Franken in a more diplomatic way, highlighting the work he’s done to advance women’s issues during his years in office serving Minnesota.
‘I would appreciate if senators, Democratic senators, would say the photo is too dangerous. We recognize the work that he’s done for women – I have a list of legislation that he sponsored for victims of domestic violence and rape survivors – we appreciate his work, at this time right now that picture is too politically damaging and we prefer if he stepped aside. That would have been a more honest way of asking him to step down in my opinion,’ she said.
Reaction to Brzezinski’s comments on Twitter were mixed, with people on both sides of the aisle agreeing and disagreeing with her.
‘She’s not wrong. It’s gotten to the point that if there are more than 2 accusations, it’s automatically true. Each one needs to be vetted,’ Twitter user @miss_vickie76 said.
‘I don’t see how the fact that LeeAnn was a “Playboy model” is relevant, Mika. Sadly this is a stark reminder that often it’s WOMEN who are the harshest on other women,” AJ Delgado, a former Trump campaigner and Mediaite columnist, wrote.
Others said they agreed with Brzezinski’s message but think she only cares about the rush to judgement when it targets a member of her own party.
‘What Mika is trying to say… Believe allegations against Republicans, not Democrat allegations,’ @Haulroadrunner wrote.
Former Trump campaigner AJ Delgado was one of the many to weigh in on Brzezinski’s comments on Twitter
