Analysis: Trump mocks Franken, reticent on Moore, despite his own history

David Jackson | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption WH: 'Big distinction' in Trump, Franken cases White House spokesman Sarah Sanders insists there's "a very big distinction" between the sexual assault allegations against President Trump and Democratic Sen. Al Franken, saying, 'Franken has admitted wrongdoing and the president hasn't.' (Nov. 17)

WASHINGTON — President Trump just can't help himself.

Despite the many women who have accused him of inappropriate behavior, and the tape of him talking about how to "grab" women, Trump couldn't help but go after Democratic Sen. Al Franken over his sexual harassment issues.

While Trump's anti-Franken tweets reflect his life-long penchant to counter-attack enemies, they also opened the door for the president's critics to revive the many sexual misconduct allegations against him.

Others pointed out that Trump's attack on Franken — "just last week he was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment" — is in contrast to his more reticent comments about Alabama-based Senate candidate Roy Moore, accused of propositioning underage girls when he was a district attorney in his 30s.

During his recent trip to Asia, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Trump believes that "if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside." Asked later by reporters about Moore, Trump said, "I'll stick with statement for now, but I'll have further comment as we go down the road."

More: White House on sex assault allegations: 'Franken has admitted wrongdoing and the president hasn’t'

More: Analysis: When it comes to Al Franken assault allegations, Congress appears united

More: Obama more popular than Trump in Alabama, Fox News poll says

Asked about what looks like selective outrage, White House officials said Trump (and Moore) deny the allegations against them, calling them politically motivated; Franken acknowledged the claims of a woman who produced photographic evidence.

"Senator Franken has admitted wrongdoing, and the President hasn’t," Sanders said. "I think that's a very clear distinction."

As for Moore, Sanders said Trump has "weighed in; he said, if the allegations are true, he should step aside."

Critics and political analysts cited other factors: Moore is a Republican who has Trump's support, while Franken is a Democrat who has been an outspoken critic of the president.

Among those noting the different reactions: Hillary Clinton, who lost last year's election to Trump. "Look at the contrast between Al Franken, accepting responsibility, apologizing, and Roy Moore and Donald Trump who have done neither," Clinton told New York radio station WABC.

A month before Trump won the 2016 election, a tape surfaced of him discussing groping women. "When you're a star, they let you do it," Trump said on an open microphone prior to the taping of an Access Hollywood segment in 2005. "You can do anything."

More than a dozen women have accused Trump of groping and kissing then against their will; Trump has denied every allegation.

After the Franken news broke this week, including a 2006 picture of the future Minnesota senator pretending to fondle a woman who was asleep, Trump took to Twitter.

Mocking Franken's name in a misspelling, the president wrote: "The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps? .....

The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps? ..... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 17, 2017

In another tweet, Trump said: "And to think that just last week he was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women. Lesley Stahl tape?"

.And to think that just last week he was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women. Lesley Stahl tape? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 17, 2017

Democratic consultant Lis Smith said Trump only hurt himself by slamming Franken. "His desire to lash out against his perceived enemies outstrips his capacity for being strategic, Smith said. "He may have thought he was counterpunching, when he really was just punching himself in the face."

Nicole Hemmer, an assistant professor with the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, described the Trump tapes as another example of the president's tendency to project his own behavior onto others.

"He regularly goes after people for things that he himself is guilty (or accused) of," Hemmer said, noting that he brought accusers of former President Bill Clinton to a debate that took place the weekend the Access Hollywood tape became public.

"It's both about deflection and diminishment: look over there, not over here," Hemmer said. "And also, how bad can it be if other people are doing it?"

Politics is also at play, analysts said.

Republican presidential consultant Liz Mair noted that before the Franken news broke, critics were already hitting Trump for his reticence about Moore.

In attacking Franken, she said, "he wasn't risking re-upping focus on his own alleged misdeeds, because that was already well underway. He was, in fact, taking a gamble he could redirect attention to Franken, which I think has actually worked to some degree."

It's also part of a time-tested strategy, Mair said, to drive up the negative views of his critics, no matter how low his own approval ratings are or if it exposes him to claims of hypocrisy.

"In Trump’s ‘grade on a curve’ mind, it’s worth the risk that people start talking about his own alleged misbehavior to drive other people’s ratings lower," Mair said.

She recalled a scene from the film Braveheart in which King Edward I orders his archers to fire over both English and Scottish troops.

When asked "won't we hit our own troops?" the Edward character replies: "Yes ... but we'll hit theirs as well. We have reserves. Attack."