Thread by @DrewHolden360

I think this piece is accurate in the extremely narrow sense that there wasn’t a widespread hashtag but fails as cultural commentary.

A quick trip down memory lane to remind us what the conversation was related to #Kavanaugh & #MeToo back then.
nytimes.com/2020/05/18/opi…

So, first off, Faludi seems right that there wasn’t a huge #BelieveAllWomen phenomena, although “believe all women” was bantered about by some.

But this ignores the rush to believe women without or before evidence in a way that has clear political goals.

Instead of Ford - whose allegations clearly split the country in terms of their credibility - let’s focus on Julie Swetnick, once represented by Michael Avenatti. Her testimony was what started the “gang rape” narrative.

Swetnick eventually backed off & contradicted her sworn testimony, saying that she had never witnessed the explosive claims she said in a sworn statement. google.com/amp/s/www.nbcn…

Of course, this wasn’t until after the hearings. And before she recanted, she was clearly believed.

The media reporting on this was actually pretty balanced by some, like this @washingtonpost piece, which details Swetnick’s trouble with the law/dishonesty and discusses her allegations. google.com/amp/s/www.wash…

That isn’t to say all of the media did a good job. In particular, @NBCNews had a good idea that Swetnick’s allegations were problematic at best. They sat on them until after they could get big ratings out of an interview, as @asymmetricinfo writes google.com/amp/s/amp.miam…

And of course, some of the media’s less incredulous voices, like @jonathanchait, ran with the allegations as believable.

Meanwhile, the narrative on Twitter very much focused on why we should “#BelieveSurvivors”, including Swetnick. A lot of women-focused orgs jumped in to say they believed her. Such as @PPFA and @NARAL

They weren’t alone. @womensmarch was singing from the same song sheet.

Ditto @Schriock1 of @emilyslist

And the @nwlc and @HRC

Plenty of blue checks chimed in too. Here’s @Martina and @SusanSarandon

And it wouldn’t be a bad-takes thread without an obligatory @SethAbramson tweet

But there were even senators, who were responsible for voting on Kavanaugh, who ran with these outlandish allegations, despite the accuser having a dubious track record and being repped by @MichaelAvenatti, not exactly a beacon for honesty.

Here’s @PattyMurray

@maziehirono was out in front of these allegations, and called them “credible” off the bat. We now know that that isn’t the case.

And @SenFeinstein chimed in along similar lines.

So, sure. It’s accurate to say that #BelieveAllWomen didn’t trend.

But maybe that’s because “believe even the most outlandish allegations, pushed by a known snakeoil salesman, on behalf of a woman with a history of dishonesty” is too long for a hashtag.

To me, it’s a distinction without a difference.

The reality is that Dems pushed a narrative that credibility doesn’t matter when it comes to sexual violence claims.

A notion they now reject when one of theirs is in the crosshairs.