OPINION: Either We Believe Victims Or We Don't. Let's Talk About The Allegations Against Eric Swalwell

This debate has really opened my eyes.

I’ve been enraged seeing this debate take place online over the last week, but especially in the last 48 hours. The debate about whether or not to believe that Eric Swalwell, a current Democratic member of Congress & candidate for Governor of California, sexually assaulted and raped 5 different women.

Before I get into some of the gross responses I have seen to this story over the last couple of days (many by women), I want to state when I stand unequivocally for the record - believe the women who have come forward.

I would’ve assumed that after the hearings around Brett Kavanaugh, the allegations against Donald Trump, and the countless claims across the Epstein Files, that we wouldn’t have to say this anymore…

But here we are.

So, before we dive in fully, let’s start with what’s been reported:

Here’s some info from CNN:

A former staffer of Rep. Eric Swalwell, a leading Democratic candidate for California governor, says that the congressman raped her when she was heavily intoxicated and left her bruised and bleeding, an allegation Swalwell strongly denies.

“I was pushing him off of me, saying no,” the woman told CNN of the incident, which she said happened in 2024 after she had stopped working in Swalwell’s office. “He didn’t stop.”

She said it was the second time Swalwell had nonconsensual sexual contact with her while she was drunk. In 2019, when she was still working for him, she said she woke up naked with him in a hotel room after a night of heavy drinking. She said she had no memory of what happened but could feel physically that they’d had sexual contact.

Three other women who spoke with CNN also alleged various kinds of sexual misconduct by the Democratic congressman – including Swalwell sending them unsolicited explicit messages or nude photos.

First, I want to say that this CNN article goes into a lot more detail about the encounters that each woman had with Swalwell. A lot of the information is graphic, but if you can handle reading it, I highly suggest.

Please read this article & come back here afterwards.

Click here ➡️ CNN Article

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My reaction to the article

First, allow me to say that I’m actually at a loss for words after reading that CNN piece. It’s obvious how much time the CNN journalists spent speaking with each victim, following up with their friends and family, reviewing spending transactions, looking at phone records…

The amount of cataloging is obviously immense for this story.

A story, that I am very sad to say, that even with this excellent reporting, is still being discounted by many online.

But I’ll get back to that in a second…

I cannot imagine what these women went through. The stories of sexual assault and rape are far too common in our society. Why, even tonight as I was sharing some of my feelings about this on Instagram, followers were DM’ing me about their own stories of how they have been assaulted.

Saying simply - believe women.

That’s something, as a man, I’ve been trying to educate myself on - the prevalence of sexual assault in our society.

As a man, sometimes you don’t realize just how prevalent this is in society. I found out just recently, that 3 women who I’m close with have each been sexually assaulted by a man. These are stories that they obviously don’t want to relive, so it makes sense why months or years can go by without speaking about them.

And then there’s the unfortunate nature of people not believing them.

I’ve been floored reading an endless stream of comments like this over the last 48 hours now. So I’ll be clear on my stance - I believe the victims.

• I believed the victims who spoke up about Brett Kavanaugh

• I believed the victims in the Epstein files

• I believe the victims of Eric Swalwell

Too many people have become so overcome with partisan brain-rot, that everything has become a conspiracy in their mind.

But I’ll ask you this - did you read that CNN article? Did that sound like a bunch of made up lies? Frankly, you shouldn’t have to read that to believe these women, but if you still don’t after reading it…I honestly don’t know what to say.

And to those who say - “wait until there’s evidence”

The part that I cannot seem to understand is the disconnect so many people seem to have, when I compare this story, to that of the Epstein Files.

I shared the victim testimony of those in the Epstein Files, back in late January. Here’s the link to that story:

If we are being technical - there is no difference between the evidence of these stories.

What I mean by that is - we are simply taking the word of the victims, over the alleged abuser. There’s no video evidence of these assaults, no financial transactions to speak of that directly tie Trump to these assaults, it’s literally just the testimony of numerous anonymous individuals.

And guess what - I BELIEVE THEM.

So why is it, that when we have similar evidence for Congressman Swalwell, so many people just ‘can’t believe it’?

I want to close this out by saying this - I believe partisanship has rotted the brains of millions of people in this country.

Just because MAGA is a fascist death cult, does not mean that Democratic politicians are incapable of committing crimes. Everything isn’t a conspiracy. Sometimes, people in positions of power, abuse their power, and harm those they believe can’t defend themselves.

The testimony against Congressman Swalwell is horrific. He should drop out of the California Governor’s race & drop out of Congress.

I’ll leave you with some of the comments I’ve seen online this weekend, that resonated the most with me.

This last one, is definitely one I want you to remember, as this discourse continues.

Until next time,

Desmond