Minnesota Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison's former girlfriend Karen Monahan alleges he emotionally abused her and, during a 2016 argument, yelled profanities at her and dragged her off a bed. | Lauren Victoria Burke, File/AP Photo Media Conservatives claim media, Dems ignoring allegations against Ellison After some early stories, Democratic lawmaker has lately received relatively little mainstream national coverage.

Christine Blasey Ford’s accusation against Brett Kavanaugh is ricocheting back on a Democrat who has faced his own allegations but, ostensibly, has nothing to do with the Supreme Court fight: Rep. Keith Ellison, the candidate for Minnesota attorney general and deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Led by opinion hosts on Fox News, conservative figures looking to call out liberal hypocrisy have seized on accusations by Ellison’s former girlfriend Karen Monahan that he emotionally abused her and, during a 2016 argument, yelled profanities at her and dragged her off a bed.


They claim that the national press, while giving ‘round the clock coverage to an allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a woman when they were both in high school, has ignored Monahan’s more recent claims about Ellison — and so, they argue, has the Democratic Party.

“Guess what? Prominent Democrats line up in support, believe Kavanaugh's accuser,” Fox News’ Sean Hannity said on his show Thursday night. “You’re hard-pressed to find any Democrats standing behind Ellison’s ex-girlfriend. That proves it’s politics.”

The allegations have gotten ample coverage in local media, including this week, when Monahan posted a medical document on social media showing she told a doctor in 2017 about alleged emotional and physical abuse. Ellison has denied the accusations against him.

Morning Media Your guide to the media circus — weekday mornings, in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

But it’s true that, after some early coverage, such as a robust takeout from the New York Times in late August, Ellison has lately received relatively little mainstream national coverage. A search of the last week of transcripts for CNN and MSNBC, using the video logging service Snapstream, yielded no results (though CNN’s Chris Cillizza wrote a column on Ellison on Friday).

Conservatives, meanwhile, have given the allegations plenty of air time. Sites like Breitbart, The Daily Caller, The National Review, The Washington Times, The Washington Examiner and The Independent Journal Review have promoted the story this week to argue that Democrats are obsessing over Kavanaugh while ignoring trouble closer to home.

“An allegation against a sitting member of Congress, No. 2 at the Democratic National Committee, Keith Ellison, by a woman who has been on the record for some time, and it’s a lot more recent than 36 years ago. You don't seem to hear a lot of Democrats,” guest host Ed Henry said on Fox & Friends Friday.

Guest Alan Dershowitz chimed in, “The one rule has to be a single standard for Democrats and Republicans.”

The question is whether conservative media has cynically covered the story too much, or whether other outlets have inappropriately given it short shrift. Media experts say it’s likely some of both.

“It does deserve some coverage. How much is a judgment call,” said David Schultz, a political science professor at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“The fact that he is second in command at DNC, that warrants some coverage,” he said, though he pointed out that Kavanaugh is a more high-stakes national figure than Ellison.

Vicki Shabo, vice president for workplace policies and strategies at the National Partnership for Women and Families, agreed, warning against a false equivalence between the two. “I think when the media starts to politicize [abuse allegations] and cover one as a tit-for-tat for the other, in some ways it might even minimize the credibility of the accusations,” she said. “The issue becomes a political ping-pong in the news cycle for the purpose of ratings or political gain by news organizations rather than respecting what victims of abuse or alleged abuse have to say.”

Representatives from Fox News, MSNBC and CNN declined to comment, as did a spokesperson for Ellison.

It’s unclear what impact the media coverage will have on either Kavanaugh’s confirmation or Ellison’s election. Minnesota Democrats were divided over former Sen. Al Franken’s decision to resign in the face of #metoo allegations, and recent polls have shown Ellison with just a slim lead in his attorney general race.

Frank Sesno, director of The George Washington University’s media school and a former CNN reporter, said that news networks’ tendency to focus on a few big stories at a time, like Kavanaugh or the latest drama around President Donald Trump, has likely led to Ellison’s story being crowded out in some places.

“I’m sure that this has not been given the coverage that it needs because Kavanaugh is such a pivotal moment,” he said. “Unfortunately, we live in what is too often a one-story-at-a-time universe, and I think there should be more capacity to look more broadly.”

Sesno added that many of the issues being raised in places like Fox are fair — he said Democrats should have to answer where they stand on the accusations against Ellison.

“The judgment I would make is, what’s the proportionality of how much time Fox is spending on that,” Sesno said. “Is your effort to give the public a balanced diet or force feed them a point of view that fits with an editorial perspective or worldview?”

Shabo agreed that the current nature of cable news is not ideal for handling this type of story.

“I don’t think the 24-hour news cycle that just repeats the same thing over and over again is good for anybody,” she said. “I’d rather see thoughtful investigative coverage of all of these situations that aim to give respect and thoroughly dissect the claims of any woman or person who feels they’ve been taken advantage of in any way.”

