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The media has found a new weapon in its war against President Trump: Porn stars. The establishment media is seeking to sexualize the Trump presidency, hoping this will cripple his credibility and ultimately drive him from office in disgrace. Their strategy is that Stormy Daniels will succeed where CNN, Robert Mueller and James Comey have failed.
The elite media is awash with stories about Trump’s alleged sexual misconduct. The New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, Salon, the New Yorker—there has been saturation coverage of the president’s supposed extramarital affairs going back over a decade ago.
Adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, who goes by Stormy Daniels as her stage name, is leading the charge. Stormy claims that she had an affair with Trump starting in 2006, which lasted until the end of 2007. She says that, during their extramarital relationship, they had “unprotected sex” four times. On Oct. 28, 2016, several weeks before the election, Stormy signed a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) with Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. In exchange for $130,000, money she admits she “desperately” needed, Stormy agreed to keep hush about their alleged affair. Cohen says that he paid her with private funds, and didn’t use any money from the Trump Organization or the campaign. Both Trump and Cohen insist there was no sexual or romantic relationship.
Which begs the question: then why pay her? According to Cohen, it was to spare his close friend the scandal and public humiliation of Stormy’s false, salacious claims. More importantly, the former porn star and her lawyer are now demanding that the NDA be declared invalid. This is because the NDA only has Cohen’s signature, but not Trump’s.
The real reason, however, is greed. Stormy’s allegations have made her a heroine in the eyes of the liberal media. Her taped interview with “60 Minutes” is scheduled to air this Sunday. She’s been on late-night talk shows, such as Jimmy Kimmel, bashing and mocking Trump. Instead of pocketing $130,000, Stormy now sees a gold mine— a book deal, lucrative media interviews, paid speaking appearances—worth millions of dollars. She is already a big hit on the strip joint circuit, cashing in on her new-found celebrity. Stormy is doing what she does best: take her clothes off. The woman is a gold digger, and she’s not afraid to admit it.
Former Playboy model, Karen McDougal, is also suing to break her silence about her alleged affair with Trump. Yet, her price was a little higher: $150,000. She also signed an NDA with Cohen to keep quiet about her supposed extramarital relationship with Trump in 2006. McDougal claims the affair lasted nearly ten months. Watching Stormy get all the attention (and all the money), she now wants a slice of the action. The media is happy to oblige, splashing her face and (uncorroborated) story all over the news.
The left’s strategy is clear: to damage Trump by endlessly peddling these smears, painting him as a sexual predator and sexist pig who cheated on his wife, Melania, only months after she gave birth to their son, Barron. The goal is to humiliate and shame Trump, undermining his credibility—especially, with women. Media elites want to portray the president as a despicable, loathsome human being, someone not worthy to be commander-in-chief. They want to reduce his presidency to rubble.
There is, however, one major problem. Even if you accept the allegations as being true—and I don’t—Trump’s alleged affairs with Stormy, McDougal and any other porn star or Playboy model on the planet was consensual. In other words, the women agreed to have sex—unprotected or otherwise—with a private citizen, who happened to be a reality television star. No one was raped, sexually assaulted or coerced against her will. In the case of Stormy, she simply did in a hotel room what she does for a living: have intercourse with a male stranger. The only difference is she wasn’t paid for it. In other words, it’s none of our business. The only people who should care about an affair, or affairs, over ten years ago is Trump and his wife. And if Melania doesn’t care, then neither should CNN or CBS.
Moreover, the media’s hypocrisy is beyond astounding. The very same elites who ferociously defended Bill Clinton are now attacking Trump. Clinton didn’t just have sexual affairs with countless women; he assaulted and raped them—some in the Oval Office itself. He abused his political power to prey upon vulnerable women. Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broadrrick, Monica Lewinsky—the list goes on. Yet, when Bubba was getting serviced by a 21-year-old intern underneath the presidential desk, turning the White House into a bordello, CNN and the New York Times laughed it off. Liberals’ mantra was “it’s just sex.” Clinton’s defenders argued that “everybody does it.” According to the Clinton precedent established by the mainstream media, Trump’s alleged sexual peccadilloes shouldn’t even register on its radar. The same liberals who deified Sen. Ted Kennedy, a man who murdered a woman and cheated on his wife more times that I’ve eaten cheeseburgers, have no moral authority to condemn Trump’s sexual behavior. In fact, they called Teddy “the Lion of the Senate.”
The media is no longer just trying to criminalize political differences; it wants to sexualize politics. The left seeks to elevate itself as judge, jury and executioner when it comes to sexual morality. Liberals are trying to erect a progressive theocracy. They, however, are not the morality police. The American people are. We didn’t elect a saint. We elected a can-do businessman, who wants to put America first and will stop selling our country down the river. We are sick and tired of Washington’s venal political-media class, who by comparison make Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal look like cloistered nuns. If liberals think anti-Trump porn stars represent the path back to power, then they are more depraved, deluded and dishonest than even I could have ever thought possible.
-Jeffrey T. Kuhner is host of “The Kuhner Report” on WRKO AM-680 in Boston