Donald Trump, Roger Ailes, and Bill Gothard

Last updated on: July 26, 2016 at 1:17 pm by Libby Anne

Donald Trump, Roger Ailes, and Bill Gothard 2016-07-26T13:17:31-04:00 Libby Anne

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Roger Ailes, the long-time chief executive director of Fox News, announced last week that he was stepping down amid sexual harassment allegations lodged against him by Gretchen Carlson numerous and other female Fox News employees, including the popular Megyn Kelly. Donald Trump responded as follows:

“I can tell you that some of the women that are complaining, I know how much he’s helped them, and even recently. And when they write books that are fairly recently released, and they say wonderful things about him. And now, all of a sudden, they’re saying these horrible things about him,” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Saturday evening. “It’s very sad because he’s a very good person. I’ve always found him to be just a very, very good person. And, by the way, a very, very talented person. Look what he’s done. So I feel very badly.”

Hmm, I wonder what this reminds me of. Oh right! Bill Gothard’s defenders. For those not already familiar, Bill Gothard ran the fundamentalist Institute for Basic Life Principles, amassing a far-reaching following among Christian homeschoolers. Gothard founded his organization in the mid-1980s, and spent the next three decades sexually harassing and molesting the teenage girls and young women who served as his personal assistants. Gothard’s sexual predation came to light in 2013, when a snowballing number of women told their stories on the website Recovering Grace.

Many within Gothard’s following have defended him, arguing that the women in question had misunderstood his actions, that he only meant to mentor or encourage them, or that they knew Gothard and he was a very, very good person. The common themes between this defense and Trump’s defense of Ailes are perhaps most disturbing in what the lack of understanding of sexual harassment (and sexual abuse more generally) that they reveal.

For starters, it is very common for victims of sexual harassment to not report what they are experiencing, or to be disbelieved if they do report it. Both Gothard and Ailes were in positions of power. Both were able to charm the men around them. Both created cultures of secrecy. This is precisely how sexual harassment frequently works—it is committed by those who believe they can get away with it because of their position of power or their popularity. It is not at all surprising that Ailes victims wrote “wonderful things” about him up until the moment they felt safe to go public with their allegations.

The scary thing here, though, is that I’m not entirely sure Trump sees anything wrong with Ailes’ alleged actions. “I can tell you that some of the women that are complaining, I know how much he’s helped them, and even recently,” Trump stated. Well yes—that is how this apparently worked. The several dozen women who have come forward so far have alleged that Ailes made promotions and advancements contingent on them offering sexual favors. In other words, he “helped them” in exchange for sex. And I’m not entirely sure Trump sees that as a problem. He may see it as a fair exchange, goods in turn.

Both Gothard and Ailes’ alleged victims remained silent for similar reasons—the power their abuser held, the (very warranted) fear that no one would believe them, the understanding that their abuser could destroy their career (or, in Gothard’s case, their position within their family and church). Interestingly though, in both cases there were allegations that had been around for years. A 2014 book critical of Fox News included a woman’s story of being sexually harassed by Ailes in the 1980s, but the allegations made little mark. As for Gothard, his predation was so obvious to those around him that at one point during the 1990s his organizations’ board of directors sought to prevent him from having teenage girls and young women as personal assistants. Even with these leaks, though, the culture of silence within each organization was enough to keep the problem bottled up for decades.

Let me note one more thing. Bill Gothard selected a very specific type of teenage girls and young women to serve as his personal assistants over the year—and those around him knew that. It was fairly common knowledge that Gothard had a “type.” In fact, his promotion of this specific look as especially godly and upstanding was so pervasive that teenage girl sand young women like in his followers, most notably the Duggar girls, often curled their hair to achieve that specific look. Fox News, for its part, has had an infamously blond female anchor lineup. One wonders whether Ailes, too, has a type.

But this isn’t just about Ailes or Gothard or the similarities between these cases. It’s also about Donald Trump. Trump’s defense of Ailes makes it only more obvious that a Trump presidency would be bad for women.

Previous Post

July 26, 2016

Political Party Convention Open Thread

Next Post

July 27, 2016 How Black Americans Became Democrats

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atheism Evangelicalism/Fundamentalism Family Feminism Homeschool Meta Parenting Patriarchy Politics Purity Quiverfull Social Justice Uncategorized Worthwhile reads

Select a Month February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who passed by in the Parable of the Good Samaritan before the Samaritan helped?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Soldier and merchant Rich man and Lazarus Priest and Levite Two robbers