An independent Michigan-based news outlet claims that one of its reporters was sexually assaulted by a man outside of a rally for former President Donald Trump at the Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan. The news comes right after the incident where a Trump lackey assaulted young activists.
Distill Social wrote a lengthy screed about the incident on social media, chronicling the troubling encounter. The post, which has more than one million views on X, described a weird mood at the rally that made the reporters feel uneasy. We’ve attended a lot of Trump rallies, the outlet said, but “tonight’s was different.”
The outlet said it’s never really had a problem at Trump rallies before, and usually when it goes, there can be good conversations with attentive attendees. Sometimes, they don’t want to talk but when that happens the outlet said it simply moves on.
The post goes on to say that the reporters arrived late because they knew Trump was going to be late as well. The crowd was “rowdier than usual” and “people were visibly drunk and high.” It also said the team was even offered drugs. In a different context that would be understandable, but at a presidential rally that’s not something you want to hear.
Things got even darker when a man grabbed one of the reporters and “tried to forcibly kiss her,” the outlet said. Obviously, this was something the team “couldn’t ignore,” so the reporters understandably bailed. It said they left with “hundreds” of other rally goers who saw Trump for just a short time and then “headed for the exits.”
Distill said it isn’t used to this type of behaviour at Trump rallies, and that “we’ve always felt we could do our job without fear” but that if this was a sign of things to come then that’s “deeply concerning.”
“When you cultivate a culture that marginalizes women, subjugates them and when your rhetoric shows a clear disrespect we can’t be too surprised that supporters would act this way.”
The post ended with a addendum that the reporters got home safe and sound. Unsurprisingly, people were not thrilled with the news.
The main reaction was the most obvious: go to the police. This type of behavior should not be tolerated and not reporting it would not help the situation or future situations for reporters put in compromising positions when they’re simply trying to do their jobs.
It is good to see a news outlet stand up for its reporter, and stand up in general to what has become increasingly hostile reactions from Trump supporters as we get closer to election day. There’s a good chance we’ll get another “they stole the election” debacle if he loses, so hopefully this isn’t just a taste of what’s to come. That would be very bad.
Time and time again we see the consequences of Trump’s divisive rhetoric. This is not new and it’s not going away. His supporters seem to feed off of his energy, especially since he’s been accused of sexual assault numerous times himself. It feels like they assume it’s okay to just put their hands on women, just like their orange face painted clown God.
Violence at Trump rallies is all too common, and has been since he started holding them in 2016. Back in July, even the Vatican spoke out against the recurring violence, after Trump was shot at and one of his rally goers was killed by a stray bullet. Ironically, since so many Trump supporters love to quote the Bible, the scripture Galatians 6:7 makes it pretty clear that “A man reaps what he sows.” Violent rhetoric begets violence. It’s not rocket science people.
Published: Sep 29, 2024 10:22 am