Pro-Donald Trump Republicans and other right-wingers are beginning to rally the flag not just around Rudy Giuliani amid his sexual harassment accusations, but they're now even rallying around Russell Brand, the comedian accused of rape and sexual assault.
Figures including Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson are all jumping to the British star's defense – and claiming a conspiracy against him.
That's not an accident, argued Amanda Marcotte for Salon. Supporters of Trump — who himself has been accused by dozens of women of varying degrees of sexual misconduct and assault — view supporting accused men as part of their ideology.
"Like clockwork, the MAGA masses are rallying to Brand's side, treating these allegations like they are evidence that the 'deep state' is trying to take Brand out for some vague reason," wrote Marcotte.
It's not necessarily the case that they're intentionally celebrating rape, she continued: "There's always the 'just trolling' defense. In this case, the argument would be that it's just that MAGA types just really love to 'trigger' the feminists. Throwing a pity party for an accused rapist is a virtual form of ponytail-pulling."
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But that hardly makes the behavior better, she continued. "Once you're throwing ticker tape parades for sexual predators, it really stops mattering if it's just out of anti-feminist spite."
Giuliani, for his part, is being accused of groping by former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who also gave blockbuster testimony about the former president's alleged actions on the morning of January 6 to the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol attack.
This follows a $10 million lawsuit brought by Noelle Dunphy, a former Giuliani business associate who claims that he sexually assaulted her.
