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Suddenly, some things about Mark Halperin make an awful lot of sense. Wednesday night CNN reported that five women were accusing the reporter, a major promoter of right-wing commentary veiled as political common wisdom, of sexual harassment and unwanted touching. Let’s reread Halperin’s comments about some of the reporting on Donald Trump’s treatment of women with that in mind, shall we?
After the New York Times ran a pre-pussy-tape investigative piece on Trump’s treatment of women in which a Miss Universe contestant described Trump kissing her and other contestants on the lips without asking and another woman him groping her under the table in the presence of her boyfriend, Halperin's take was that:
There’s some troubling things in the piece, but there’s nothing illegal, there’s nothing even kind of like beyond boorish or politically incorrect, which is built into the Donald Trump brand.
So perhaps Halperin saw himself as “nothing even kind of like beyond boorish or politically incorrect” when he did this:
"I went up to have a soda and talk and -- he just kissed me and grabbed my boobs," the woman said. "I just froze. I didn't know what to do."
Or this:
"The first meeting I ever had with him was in his office and he just came up from behind -- I was sitting in a chair from across his desk -- and he came up behind me and [while he was clothed] he pressed his body on mine, his penis, on my shoulder," this woman told CNN. "I was obviously completely shocked. I can't even remember how I got out of there -- [but] I got out of there and was freaked out by that whole experience. Given I was so young and new I wasn't sure if that was the sort of thing that was expected of you if you wanted something from a male figure in news."
Halperin gave a statement to CNN saying that:
"During this period, I did pursue relationships with women that I worked with, including some junior to me," Halperin said in a statement to CNN Wednesday night. "I now understand from these accounts that my behavior was inappropriate and caused others pain. For that, I am deeply sorry and I apologize. Under the circumstances, I'm going to take a step back from my day-to-day work while I properly deal with this situation."
He only now understands that “pursuing relationships” with women junior to him at work by rubbing his dick on them was inappropriate? And this guy has been seen—and paid—as one of the nation’s top political reporters? Heaven help us.
MSNBC has announced that Halperin “is leaving his role as a contributor until the questions around his past conduct are fully understood.”
