NBC host Megyn Kelly said Thursday that women need to be careful of how American society and institutions deal with men accused of sexual misconduct, or run the risk that allegations against men will lose their weight.
“‘Believe women’ may sound like a nice slogan, but it is utterly inconsistent with the principles of our justice system,” Kelly said on “The Today Show” Thursday. “Women are entitled to an open mind and a fair hearing, not to a presumption that their accusations are true.”
Kelly warned that holding that assumption is dangerous for women.
“As Julie Swetnick’s claims have collapsed against Brett Kavanaugh, where’s the media talking about that, about the litany of problems this woman has had when it comes to truthfulness and so on?” Kelly asked on “The Today Show.”
Swetnick alleged that Kavanaugh was involved in a scheme to gang rape girls and was present at a party where Swetnick herself was gang raped.
Swetnick appeared to walk back her first claim in an NBC interview with Kate Snow on Monday.
{mosads} Both of Swetnick’s claims remain uncorroborated.
“We’ve been covering it here,” Kelly said on Thursday. “What do people say? You’re victim shaming. Come on! We are allowed to look at the credibility of an accuser.”
“And we as women need to be careful because if there’s a presumption of guilt in all cases, how are we gonna get people to listen to us in the next case?” Kelly said.
Conservative pundit Amy Holmes added that tossing aside the presumption of innocence for men accused of sexual misconduct particularly puts men of color in danger, citing anecdotal evidence about Title IX proceedings on college campuses.
“Absolutely,” Kelly agreed. “What happened on college campuses is sort of a harbinger of what’s been going on in the country, where we’ve swung the pendulum so far back against men, took away their due process rights.”