Lost in the rapid news about Trump’s hospitalization is a yet another political sex scandal. This one involves Kimberly Guilfoyle, one time Fox News personality and currently girlfriend for Donald Trump’s son Don Jr. and also Trump’s campaign finance chair. She seems to be a real piece of work in the way she treated a young assistant and behaved around others.
As President Donald Trump heads into the 2020 elections, he faces a daunting gender gap: according to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, he trails Joe Biden by thirty percentage points among female voters. As part of his campaign, Trump has been doing all he can to showcase female stars in the Republican Party, from nominating Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court to naming Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former Fox News host and legal analyst, his campaign’s finance chair. Guilfoyle, however, may not be an ideal emissary. In November, 2018, a young woman who had been one of Guilfoyle’s assistants at Fox News sent company executives a confidential, forty-two-page draft complaint that accused Guilfoyle of repeated sexual harassment, and demanded monetary relief. The document, which resulted in a multimillion-dollar out-of-court settlement, raises serious questions about Guilfoyle’s fitness as a character witness for Trump, let alone as a top campaign official.
…In the 2020 campaign, Trump has spotlighted no woman more brightly than Guilfoyle. She was given an opening-night speaking slot at the Republican National Convention. And this fall Guilfoyle, who is Donald Trump, Jr.,’s girlfriend, has been crisscrossing the country as a Trump surrogate, on what is billed as the “Four More Tour.”
…Last December, reportedly at the President’s request, Guilfoyle was asked to become the head of fund-raising for Trump Victory, his main campaign organization. She began touring the country as a Trump surrogate, appearing, as she did last month in Pennsylvania, in a bright-pink dress that matched a banner bearing the slogan “Women for Trump.” She also began hosting pro-Trump “news” updates on a channel available only to users of the Trump campaign’s social-media app.
…The woman was hired in 2015, just out of college, to work as an assistant for Guilfoyle and another former Fox host, Eric Bolling. According to a dozen well-informed sources familiar with her complaints, the assistant alleged that Guilfoyle, her direct supervisor, subjected her frequently to degrading, abusive, and sexually inappropriate behavior; among other things, she said that she was frequently required to work at Guilfoyle’s New York apartment while the Fox host displayed herself naked, and was shown photographs of the genitalia of men with whom Guilfoyle had had sexual relations. The draft complaint also alleged that Guilfoyle spoke incessantly and luridly about her sex life, and on one occasion demanded a massage of her bare thighs; other times, she said, Guilfoyle told her to submit to a Fox employee’s demands for sexual favors, encouraged her to sleep with wealthy and powerful men, asked her to critique her naked body, demanded that she share a room with her on business trips, required her to sleep over at her apartment, and exposed herself to her, making her feel deeply uncomfortable.
…Despite Guilfoyle’s record at Fox, she was given one of the Republican National Convention’s most prominent speaking spots—just before 10 p.m. on the first night.
Man, these people are the lowest of the low. What is it about these people that they feel that they can force their subordinates to see them naked? Do they think that their subordinates will enjoy it? It was the same behavior by Charlie Rose and Harvey Weinstein.
It also seems so bizarre to me. It is one thing to have nudity as part of some sex scene in a film. But cropped photos of genitalia (which I’m assuming these are) seem pointless to me. Surely once you’ve seen one set of genitals, you’ve seen them all. How would you know if they belonged to someone famous as opposed to (say) your pool boy or taken from some internet porn site? Do the owners of the genitalia sign the images to indicate their authenticity?
Also what is it with these men who agree to have their genitals photographed in the first place? Are they so proud of them that they want to share the joy with the world? Is this part of modern day romance and dating, to give a photo of genitals as a gesture of thanks for a wonderful time, as opposed to sending flowers or chocolates? And what is it with women like Guilfoyle who then show these photos to others like trophies?
I just don’t get it. But then, I’m just an old fogey who is not well versed in modern courtships and romance so may be I am just not aware of what people find romantic these days. Though to be fair, when I was young, I was still a fogey who was even then not well versed in courtship and romance practices, so there’s that.
@mano
There’s an entire industry consisting of photos and videos shared without consent, and often (at least represented as) taken without consent in the first place.
Now, I’m sure that not everyone who says that a particular piece of pornography was created without their partner’s knowledge is being honest. Some percentage (large or small I certainly wouldn’t know) are bound to be trying to cash in on a disgusting trend. But some percentage of these people really are photographing or filming sexual activities or body parts without their partners knowledge.
Though this is most famously a violation committed by men against women, when someone is as terrible as Guilfoyle is about violating boundaries I have no reason to believe that she showed more respect in creating the images than she did in thrusting them upon others.
Has to be the best joke of the day, while also reflecting profound reality!
And here I had been thinking “she’s unqualified.”
Disgraced former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens is out, not because of blatantly illegal stuff he did (mostly Sunshine Law violations and using an e-mail app that deleted official messages before they could be saved), but because of a sexual scandal. At lease there’s something that “values voters” won’t put up with.
We have something in common, Mano. 😎
I dunno, she’s sounds like a perfect match for Don Jr.
Two peas in a pod and all that…
When did understanding consent make someone an “old fogey”?
Funny how those who blather loudest about “family values” and “xian morality” always have the values and morality of Butch Kimmerling.
“Also what is it with these men who agree to have their genitals photographed in the first place?”
Most of the women I know who use dating apps have received plenty of unsolicited photos of male genitalia. The vast majority of them find it extremely obnoxious. Since it’s such a common phenomenon, I imagine many men these days would also voluntarily supply the photos if asked.