Like many Americans, I’ve been disgusted not only by Donald Trump’s misogynistic attitude toward women, but by the way Republicans have fallen in line behind him. The shameless ones have brazenly defended his statements and actions, whereas other Republicans, who are privately embarassed, nonetheless look the other way, and try to convince all of us to do the same.

As gross of a spectacle as this has been to observe, I can’t even imagine what it must be like for the many professional Republican women who for years have staked their reputations on defending Republicans from the image that they’re a bunch of old white men who don’t care about the treatment of women. Giving voice to those women is Amanda Carpenter, who writes and speaks powerfully in a piece for the Washington Post.