Breitbart’s Joel Pollak argues Roy Moore’s reported sexual relationships with teenagers were “perfectly legitimate” – By Media Matters staff (mediamatters.org) / Nov 9 2017
Breitbart is defending Moore even after multiple women spoke out about Moore soliciting them. From the November 9 edition of MSNBC Live with Ali Velshi:
JOEL POLLAK: Well, if this story is true, and I think that any story of sexual misconduct especially with someone who is under age is very serious. Why would The Washington Post wrap it with all kinds of perfectly legitimate relationships as well as all kinds of other political clutter? I think the reason people are questioning not only the motivations, but the accuracy of The Washington Post piece is because they packaged it with all sorts of other stuff that has nothing to do with the question. And so, we’ll have to see where this goes. I think there’s a lot of drilling down that needs to be done.
ALI VELSHI (HOST): So, in good media criticism that’s valid. Writing a piece criticizing how The Washington Post reports on something is something else. But I have read this several times. This piece — if you think The Washington Post piece is a hatchet job, yours feels like a defense of Roy Moore.
POLLAK: Well, you said yourself at the start of the segment he’s being accused of relationships with teenagers. To me that’s not accurate. In fact, it’s following in a narrative that the Post tried to set up–
VELSHI: But, it is. It is teenagers. It’s a 14-year old, a 16-year old, and I think two 18-year olds. They’re teenagers.
POLLAK: The 16-year old and the 18-year old have no business in that story, because those are women of legal age of consent at the time.
[…]
My point is that the Post has successfully put a narrative out, at least on MSNBC and in other places, that there’s this pattern of teenagers. There’s really, as far as know, the facts could come out differently but as far as we know, there’s only one relationship that’s been alleged that’s problematic.
PB/TK – “The 16-year old and the 18-year old have no business in that story, because those are women of legal age of consent at the time.” Yes it has everything to do with the story especially since they accused him of sexual misconduct/relations. Ok, the age of consent in Alabama is 16, but if the teens in question were forced upon, that’s rape numbnuts!
