Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Sun editorial:

On women’s issues, Heller can stand with or distance himself from Trump

0623_AP_TrumpGOP

Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

President Donald Trump greets Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., at a Nevada GOP Convention in Suncoast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Saturday, June 23, 2018.

Sometime today, unless something drastically unexpected happens, Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with President Donald Trump and the two of them will smile, clap and wave.

When this moment occurs, let’s think about whom Heller is smiling, clapping and waving with.

It’s a man who, when reacting to an allegation of a sexual assault by Judge Brett Kavanaugh, said he felt “terribly” for the Supreme Court nominee and described him as “an extraordinary man” with an “unblemished record.” Trump described what Kavanaugh was experiencing as “unfair” and said he was “not a man that deserves this.”

Did the president have any such sympathetic words for Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of the crime? No. Nor did Trump take the opportunity to condemn sexual assault in general or encourage victims of the crime to come forward, which he easily could have done while still defending Kavanaugh’s right to a full and complete hearing on the matter.

Instead, Trump merely said Blasey Ford should be heard, which was hardly compassionate. The message was basically “put up or shut up.”

And this is the man Heller will be standing with, all smiles, as camera lights flash.

Trump is a man who has stood behind a number of people accused of sexual assault — Roy Moore, Rob Porter, Roger Ailes, and the list goes on.

A man who has been accused of sexual misconduct by at least 19 women since the 1980s.

A man who was recorded bragging about grabbing women by the genitals.

A man who clearly believes that assaulting women is entirely acceptable.

Heller, meanwhile, has indicated he’s voting for Kavanaugh’s confirmation, and we haven’t heard him take a strong stand on the issue since Blasey Ford’s accusation came to light.

He’s also opposed federal funding for Planned Parenthood while giving mixed signals, at one point telling participants in a town hall that “I will protect Planned Parenthood” and “I have no problems with federal funding for Planned Parenthood.”

Yet the Republican senator’s campaign is positioning him as a champion for women’s issues, including announcing a “Women for Dean” group and issuing an ad the next day in which several women called Heller “our senator.”

That being the case, Heller owes it to Nevadans to show them where he’s truly positioned on women’s issues.

Here’s how: If he wants to prove he takes matters like sexual assault seriously, he should say he can’t cast his vote for Kavanaugh without a full FBI investigation. Given his wholehearted support of Trump and his silence on the Kavanaugh matter thus far, anything short of that will be telling the women of Nevada they’re not full citizens in his eyes.

Heller has supported women-friendly measures such as the Violence Against Women Act, but the Kavanaugh situation demands a strong stance from him. Thus far, however, Heller has issued only a short statement saying: “I think it is important for Dr. Ford to share her information with the Judiciary Committee. Given the gravity of this appointment and this accusation, I would hope that all senators, regardless of party, will work with Chairman (Chuck) Grassley in good faith.”

Not good enough, Senator, especially given the chumminess that will undoubtedly happen during today’s photo-ops.

So there they’ll be — Heller and Trump, Trump and Heller. Nevada women, and voters in general, are going to remember that moment. Unless Heller runs strongly counter to Trump on women’s issues, a picture may truly say a thousand words about his support of Nevada women. And none of those thousand words will say anything good about him.