Mark Halperin Uses Ex-Wife of Alleged Domestic Abuser Rob Porter in Attempt to Rehab Career
Ex-NBC News political analyst Mark Halperin, who fell out of the media industry in 2017 while facing numerous sexual misconduct allegations, is kicking off his attempted career comeback by interviewing the ex-wife of accused domestic abuser and former White House aide Rob Porter.
Halperin shared his interview with Jennie Willoughby on a personal YouTube page, in which the two discussed her abuse allegations against Porter, which became public in 2018 and resulted in Porter’s removal from the Trump administration. While discussing Porter’s alleged domestic violence, Halperin apologized for his own misconduct.
“The things that we’re talking about, the horrible, egregious conduct I engaged in at ABC News, before I left 12 years ago, are things that I should’ve known at the time warranted apologies to the women I victimized,” Halperin told Willoughby. “One of the mistakes I made was when I left ABC I was trying to change my life, I was trying to move on with my life, so I apologize and I acknowledge that I made a mistake by not apologizing.”
“Over the last two years, I apologized publicly and in listening to the stories that the women who i victimized told, I felt horrible, they’re a group of people but they’re individuals, and every individual story I recognized I was at fault,” he added.
Halperin noted that he attempted to apologize to some of the women he victimized, either in person or in a written statement; some of the women heard him out, while others turned down his attempts to reach out.
An October 2017 CNN report detailed allegations from five women who dealt with Halperin’s misconduct, which included nonconsensual groping and kissing, as well as propositioning one female colleague and rubbing his genitalia against another — a claim that Halperin denies.
In his recent YouTube video, Halperin insisted that he has changed.
“In the ten years after I left ABC, while I was still working as a journalist, I did change my behavior, I was a better colleague, I was someone who understood the proper way to behave in the workplace,” he said.
Halperin’s attempt to rehab his image has mostly been met with criticism and the majority of his attempts to break back into mainstream media outlets have been shot down, per a Daily Beast reports that detailed his recent failed tries to work with MSNBC and The Hill.
He acknowledged to Willoughby that he may not have a future in journalism, saying that the profession requires “integrity” and building trust with others.
“I know that because of what I did at ABC, I squandered that. And in the eyes of some people, I should never be a journalist again,” he concluded.
However, Halperin has appeared on a SiriusXM news show hosted by CNN’s Michael Smerconish in recent weeks and he is publishing a book on the 2020 election, titled, How to Beat Trump.
