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Donald Trump, self-proclaimed “protector” of women, issued a proclamation Thursday acknowledging Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, in which he leveled a bigoted attack against undocumented migrants.
This month, we recognize National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month by ending the unfathomable human abuse committed under open borders policies. One of the leading causes of sexual violence over the last 4 years has been the invasion of illegal aliens at our southern border. In a treasonous act of betrayal against the American people, the previous administration unleashed an army of gangs and criminal aliens from the darkest and most dangerous corners of the world — causing a dramatic increase of sexual violence in our neighborhoods and communities. These reckless policies empowered some of the most depraved people on the planet to exploit women and children in the most vicious ways imaginable.
The rest of the screed offered more of the same.
Literally the only true statement in that quoted section is that April is in fact Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. There has not been an “invasion” of immigrants through our southern border. And despite Trump’s efforts to convince the public otherwise, studies have repeatedly shown immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the U.S.
It’s perhaps not surprising that the president is less interested in bringing awareness to sexual assaults perpetrated by American citizens. Trump himself (as you likely know) was found liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in a civil trial in 2023. He famously boasted about groping women without their consent.
Trump was once an associate of Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender (but he has never been implicated in any allegations). To serve as labor secretary in his first administration, Trump named Alex Acosta, the former U.S. attorney who oversaw a controversial plea deal for Epstein in a child sex abuse case. Trump also publicly sent well-wishes to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s co-defendant in his child sex trafficking case, as she fought the charges in 2020.
Three of the men Trump selected for Cabinet positions this year previously faced accusations of sexual assault (two denied any wrongdoing; the third apologized to the woman via text message). Multiple Jan. 6 insurrectionists he pardoned had prior convictions for sexual assault. And some of the insurrectionists he pardoned have since been charged with sexual assault or soliciting a minor in connection with incidents alleged to have occurred before the insurrection. And, according to reporting from the Financial Times and The Times, Trump’s administration had a hand in helping accused sex trafficker Andrew Tate return to the U.S. after the administration allegedly pressured Romanian officials to loosen travel restrictions for Tate and his brother.
So Trump’s proclamation Thursday — ostensibly “to support survivors of sexual assault” — tracks with his and his administration’s overtly racist policies. At the same time, it refuses any “awareness” of his own history of sexual abuse or the sexual misconduct alleged against those in his inner circle.
No one needs Trump to proclaim anything in support of Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month — unless it’s an apology.