Peter Hassan:
After Ivanka Trump was harassed by a man on a JetBlue flight, prominent liberals took to Twitter to try and dissuade the public from feeling sympathy for the 31-year-old mother of three.
Dan Goldstein chased Ivanka down specifically to harass her, according to his husband, Matthew Lasner, who bragged about the harassment ahead of time.
Despite the fact that Lasner announced the harassment ahead of time, some liberals still tried to cast doubt on the story’s veracity or urged against sympathy for Ivanka.
The Guardian’s Jessica Valenti, who routinely speaks out against harassment of women, thinks Ivanka should have been able to “handle” the harassment, which she referred to as “criticism.”
Actress Reagan Gomez suggested people shouldn’t feel bad for Ivanka because she flew commercially, rather than on a private jet, later suggesting the whole thing was a “stunt” Ivanka pulled for her “daddy.”
Imani Gandy, a legal analyst for left-wing website Rewire News, also cast doubt on the harassment victim, suggesting the whole thing was a “stunt” meant as a “distraction from some impending Christmas fuckery” by President-elect Donald Trump.
Shanica Johnson, a producer for CBS News, also attempted to cast doubt on the fact that Ivanka was harassed. “We’re supposed to believe that Ivanka Trump was in a middle seat on a jet blue flight in coach?” she questioned.
Author Tariq Nasheed also suggested that the incident was orchestrated by the Trump camp, writing: “the gay person who allegedly harassed wealthy Ivanka Trump on a cheap ass Jet Blue flight, just HAPPENED to be a Hillary supporter too?”
Ira Madison, a writer for MTV News, questioned why Ivanka wasn’t flying in more expensive style.
“Why is Ivanka Trump flying in a Jet Blue seat I can afford?” he asked, later calling the whole thing a “scam” because Ivanka wasn’t using her father’s private jet.
Kaivan Shroff, who worked as a digital organizer on the Hillary Clinton campaign according to his Linkedin, similarly cast doubt that the harassment was, in fact, harassment, claiming Goldstein simply was “informing Ivanka Trump her dad is ruining the country.”
