Columnist says Katie Hill scandal exposes 'the left's #MeToo hypocrisy' - Washington Examiner

After Rep. Katie Hill announced her resignation from Congress amid allegations of affairs with two staffers, a New York Post columnist argued the incident exposes "the left's #MeToo hypocrisy."

In a Sunday night column, Miranda Devine called the scandal surrounding Hill, who is accused of engaging in a three-way relationship with a female campaign staffer and her husband and later having an affair with her male legislative director, a "classic 'MeToo' situation."

"But it [her resignation] shouldn't have taken so long — more than a week during which she was aggressively defended by hypocritical defenders on the left," she wrote. "By claiming that Hill was the victim of a political smear, she and her supporters showed no concern for the vulnerable 22-year-old who was preyed upon by her boss and who now, two years later, is bereft, abandoned and a self-described 'mess.'

"The same people who demonize males for far less gave Hill a free pass for her egregious abuse of power," Devine added. "This despicable sophistry undermines everything the 'MeToo' movement is meant to be about."

The columnist went on to argue the reaction to Hill's alleged relationships with her aides would have been entirely different if she were a man.

"To spell it out, if your boss is having sex with you, something is wrong. The power imbalance undermines the notion of consent, regardless of the gender or sexuality of the more powerful person," she said. "But whether it is or isn't technically a violation, it's still wrong by any standard of basic human decency. And you can bet that if Hill, 32, were a man and, God forbid, a Republican, the 'MeToo' crowd would show no mercy ... No man could get away with describing a sexual relationship with a subordinate whose paycheck he controls as merely 'inappropriate.'"

Hill revealed her intentions to leave office less than a year into her first term, making her the first female lawmaker to quit Congress over a sex scandal. After naked photos surfaced, the California Democrat acknowledged and apologized for her "throuple" with the campaign staffer and her estranged husband, accusing her "abusive husband" of launching a "smear campaign" against her and lamenting the publication of explicit photos from their relationship.

However, she has denied having an affair with her legislative director, which was the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation.

While the term "me too" was coined in 2006 by sexual assault survivor Tarana Burke, the #MeToo movement gained national attention in 2017 when actress Ashley Judd went public with allegations of sexual misconduct by ex-Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, which led to an avalanche of other survivors coming forward with stories of sexual harassment and assault by powerful men in Hollywood, media, and politics.

Original source: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/columnist-says-katie-hill-scandal-exposes-the-lefts-metoo-hypocrisy