Earlier this week, “Star Trek” and “Rent” actor Anthony Rapp revealed to the public the “House of Cards” star Kevin Spacey sexually assaulted him more than 30 years ago when he attended a party thrown at Spacey’s home.
According to CNN, Rapp said the incident took place in 1986 when he was 14 years old and Spacey was 26. Spacey’s implied pedophilia has America outraged at the idea their favorite TV president could do such a horrible thing. The popular Netflix series has even suspended filming of its final season.
Although we certainly agree the allegations against Spacey are abhorrent, we’re noticing an infuriating double standard being set for this fictitious world leader and our actual Commander in Chief.
In case we have all forgotten, which it seems like we have, President Donald Trump has more than a few sexual assault charges connected to his name, as well. According to Vox, a total of 15 women had come forward as of Nov. 5, 2016, claiming Trump has sexually assaulted them. This was just three days before he was elected into office. The offenses range from his notorious “grab them by the pussy” video, to groping beauty pageant contestants, to, worst of all, raping a 13-year-old child.
These allegations aren’t new. In fact, many of the incidents themselves occurred far more recently than Spacey’s infraction and all were public knowledge before Trump was elected as president of the U.S. So why does America care so much more about the behavior of an actor than they do about the man who is leading our country? Really, we’d just like to know.
We believe it is truly revolting our country chose to overlook Trump’s allegations when it came down to it.
We expect nothing less than to receive numerous angry comments on this editorial, claiming the allegations against Trump are just that: allegations. You’re right, they are just allegations. He isn’t a registered sex offender and he was never officially charged with sexual assault. However, the same goes for Spacey. And Spacey has a much cleaner record.
We understand everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and in cases of sexual assault and misconduct, it can be challenging to provide evidence. But, in that same way, we believe all allegations should be given respect and should be given the same merit.
People are furious over the allegations against Weinstein. He has been ousted in Hollywood and removed from the company he co-founded. People are appalled about the allegations against Spacey, and his hit Netflix show has suspended filming. But when it comes to Trump and the 15 allegations against him, people could not seem to care less.
We aren’t saying Weinstein and Spacey shouldn’t be punished. We aren’t saying what they did is right or what they did is any more acceptable than what Trump has allegedly done. What we are saying, however, is our president should be held to the same standard as these celebrities.
In our opinion, it is appalling this is even a topic of discussion. Trump’s sexual assault charges are something that should have been investigated thoroughly during his campaign. Nonetheless, this is our reality.
While his supporters were busy reeling about Hillary Clinton’s emails, they neglected the fact that they were electing a sexual offender into office. Women spoke up, and we ignored them. Instead of charging their offender, we made him president.
By all means, dear reader, we want you to express your upset with people like Weinstein and Spacey — they deserve it. But when you do so, just remember the man you put in office and the hypocrisy behind his election.
