At the GOP debate on Thursday, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was asked if Bill Clinton’s past indiscretions were fair game against current Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
Paul said he didn’t blame Hillary for Bill’s behavior, saying that she wasn’t responsible for what Bill did while president. Paul did, however, suggest that what Bill did would ruin the career of any CEO in America.
“If what Bill Clinton did, any CEO in our country did with an intern… they would be fired,” Paul said, adding that not only would the CEO be fired, but he would not be able to find work again.
Hillary and her supporters claimed that Bill should not be a factor in deciding whether she should be president. The fact of the matter is that Hillary herself has made sexual assault an issue in her campaign, and it’s impossible to ignore that her husband has been accused of the crime.
In November, Hillary tweeted that “every survivor of sexual assault deserves to be heard, believed and supported.” But when she was questioned on the women who made such accusations against her husband, Hillary claimed accusers should be believed “until they are disbelieved based on evidence.”
Yet there is no evidence to suggest that Bill’s accusers were lying. To be fair, there isn’t a lot of evidence to suggest he did anything wrong. But if Hillary is going to claim that accusers should be believed, she shouldn’t distinguish between those who accuse college fraternity members and those who accuse her husband.
And Paul was absolutely right about the state of our culture when it comes to sexual harassment. If a male CEO — especially a male tech CEO – had done what Bill did, the outrage brigade would ensure that he never contributed to society again. Such attempts were tried against Max Temkin, creator of the popular game “Cards Against Humanity” and Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock Systems. Both men were accused of sexual misconduct, and both have suffered severe damage to their reputations thanks to the accusations, even though neither were substantiated.
If either of those men had admitted to what they were accused of, they would have been ostracized and run out of their jobs.
Hillary Clinton claims to speak for women and to protect women, yet when it comes to her husband, women get thrown under the proverbial bus.
Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
