Americans can look past sexual assault. Just don't hurt dogs

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a conspiracy-spouting, fact-hating jackass whose work spreading lies about vaccines directly led to the death of children. However, he’s still politically astute enough that when Vanity Fair ran a story on July 2 claiming that he had eaten a dog, Kennedy rushed to deny it. 

Kennedy may have denied chowing down on a canine, but he did not deny the other part of the Vanity Fair story—the part alleging that he sexually assaulted a former nanny. In fact, Kennedy seemed both to confirm the story and find it all amusing. 

“I’m not a church boy,” Kennedy told the host of the “Breaking Points” podcast, adding that he had “many skeletons in my closet.”

News stories about Kennedy over the past few days have focused on his standing in the polls and his engagement with 9/11 conspiracies. And, of course, there were several more stories about Kennedy denying that he ate that dog. What seems to be avoiding any scrutiny is that other sordid allegation revealed by Vanity Fair.

Because America, or at least the American media, seems to care more about dead dogs than it does the live women who are victims of sexual assault.