A longtime Republican insider is calling out GOP lawmakers for “hypocrisy” for not demanding the resignation of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta for a 2008 plea deal he struck as a prosecutor with sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.
“Once upon a time, this was a party that appointed itself as a party of family values,” Peter Wehner told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace on Tuesday.
Acosta’s deal allowed Epstein, who was facing a possible life sentence after being accused of sexually assaulting underage girls at his Palm Beach mansion, to serve just 13 months behind bars. Now, with Epstein facing sex trafficking charges in New York, Democrats are calling on Acosta to resign over the lenient deal.
But Republicans have been largely silent and Wehner ― who served in the administrations of presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and as a senior aide in the White House of President George W. Bush ― offered up a theory as to why.
“Remember the context of this: Secretary Acosta is accused of not prosecuting a sexual predator,” Wehner said. “The president is a sexual predator.”
Trump was “credibly accused of rape” two weeks ago, Wehner said, and two dozen other women have accused him of sexual assault.
“We have a president who is a sexual predator,” Wehner said. “The idea that he would be offended, morally or ethically troubled by anything that Acosta did, is not going to happen.”
Wallace also called the Republican response a “joke”:
“A joke and hypocrisy and just an extraordinary offense. I mean, these are young girls who are being sexually assaulted and they don’t care. And they’re siding with rich, powerful men against these kids, and the fact that they’re not blinking twice is such an indictment.”
See the full discussion above; Wehner’s comments begin at 13:10.
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.