Four Democratic 2020 candidates have signed a letter requesting an independent investigation in sexual abuse allegations against NBC. The presidential candidates signed the letter ahead of Wednesday night’s debate, which is co-sponsored by MSNBC. The candidates have so far given no indication that they will pull out of the debate if MSNBC and NBC’s parent company, Comcast, does not agree to their request.
Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) signed the letter earlier this week and addressed it to Tom Perez, the current chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Huffington Post first reported on the letter Tuesday morning, writing that the candidates expressed concern that a debate hosted by MSNBC would send the wrong message to victims of sexual abuse if its parent company didn’t agree to an outside investigation into NBC.
“We, the undersigned candidates, are very concerned about the message it would send to sexual assault survivors if our next debate is sponsored by MSNBC without clear commitments from Comcast, the parent company of NBC and MSNBC, to conduct an independent investigation into the toxic culture that enabled abusers and silenced survivors,” the candidates wrote in the letter.
The candidates go on to suggest that the five-month long internal investigation into the allegations was inadequate, since it determined that NBC News executives could not be faulted when formal complaints were not made.
“Yet, there is clearly something wrong with a work environment reluctant to hold management accountable. That’s what allowed the behavior of powerful abusers inside the company to go unchecked. The troubling reports about management’s role to cover up abuse demonstrate that Comcast should have and needs to do more to shift the work culture and pursue significant structural changes in order to prevent future harassment and abuse at NBC and MSNBC. Until that happens, employees are at risk,” the candidates wrote.
The senators suggest that President Donald Trump has been “credibly accused” (a term used these days for every allegation against someone right-leaning, whether the accusation is credible or not) of sexual assault, and therefore Democrats must “offer voters a clear and unquestionable difference come November when it comes to these important issues.”
“We can not do that when we prop up and support companies that have systematically covered up numerous indicents [sic] of sexual violence with no accountability or changes of leadership,” the senators continued.
“It is critical that the Democratic National Committee make clear that they support survivors of sexual harassment and abuse by ensuring that Comcast and NBC News take steps to clean up the toxic culture that exists across their networks,” the candidates concluded.
The co-sponsorship of the debate has been known for some time, yet these candidates just released the letter this week. As NBC reported, the letter was coordinated by UltraViolet, a women’s group that insists all allegations of sexual assault made by women must be believed. This is an organization that says it still believes Christine Blasey Ford, who claimed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were both teenagers 30 years ago. No evidence exists that the two had ever even met, and Ford’s own friend from the time says that not only does she not remember Kavanaugh or any incident like the one Ford described, but that Ford’s attorneys pressured her to tell a different story. UltraViolet also says it still believes Anita Hill, who accused Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment even as she followed him from job to job.
Nowhere in the letter do the Democratic candidates suggest they would avoid Wednesday’s debate if Comcast does not agree to an independent investigation.