Thread by @magi_jay

We've seen how Trump addresses sexual assault. He calls women liars & claims the allegations are politically-motivated. He encouraged a whole crowd to mock Christine Blasey Ford's memory. I don't know why we act as if we don't have ample evidence of what he's likely to do.

https://twitter.com/samstein/status/1656015256789872642

It should be a seismic event. It will not be, for many reasons, one of which is that the media is less interested in the details of the rape allegation/civil trial than they are in the ~tantalizing~ viciousness with which Trump will respond to the verdict.

We cared about Trump's alleged assaults in Oct, 2016. Then we forgot.
We cared during the advent of "MeToo" in Nov, 2017. We forgot.
We cared during the Kavanaugh hearings in Oct, 2018. We forgot.
We cared during election time in Oct, 2020.
Then we forgot again.

Here are better Q's than "what will Trump say?"
1. Why does this story carry so little impact & is the media partially responsible?
2. What does this say about what Trump has done? The scope of his malevolence?
3. What does this say about how much we care about sexual assault?

1. Those of us convinced by evidence provided by 20+ alleged victims, as well as Trump's own words, long ago reached the same conclusion as the civil jury. We are also numb after his malevolence re: COVID & democracy.

Interpersonal violence gets diminished against this scale. .

1 (cont. . .): Those who adore Trump have been radicalized against doctors, scientists, educators, & even flight attendants. Science. History. There is no truth there. They always believed the women were liars & I fail to see how a civil verdict moves this needle.

1 (cont. . .): Yes, the media is partially--tho not fully--responsible for our response. The media has the power to craft narratives. Yet they often choose to locate drama elsewhere

To illustrate: Here is a rough google trend chart of 2023: "Trump sexual assault" vs. "Biden age"

2. During Trump, we were bombarded with not only scandals--but scandals involving real--often systemic--harm to multiple *groups* of people, not just individuals. White supremacy. Tortured children. Lies about disease while thousands died. Fomenting violence against protesters.

2 (cont. . .) Anyone who has ever studied psychology, neuroscience, or trauma/stress would be able to conclude that such a constant onslaught of violence & horror would create an overall "dampening" effect on one's neurological, physiological, & psychological responses.

Now, to answer #3. The most painful question. There are too many confounding variables. If COVID or the insurrection hadn't happened, would we care more? I can't say.

But I will posit a guess: we do not care enough. For example: "woke" mapped over "sexual assault" in 2023:

Finally, I will say that one outlet's coverage of the civil trial against Trump has been exemplary: @NewsHour. They devoted several segments to covering the trial as a top news story. They have also interviewed experts on aspects of psychology + rape, including victim-blaming.