North Dakota Republican Senate Candidate Kevin Cramer Says #MeToo Is ‘Movement Toward Victimization’

The Republican challenging Senator Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota has some issues with the #MeToo movement.

According to The New York Times, Congressman Kevin Cramer invoked the women in his own family as he said, “They cannot understand this movement toward victimization. They are pioneers of the prairie. These are tough people whose grandparents were tough and great-grandparents were tough.”

Apparently he initially said that North Dakotans value “saying what a lot of other people don’t dare say — but think,” and when asked for an example, he responded, “That you’re just supposed to believe somebody because they said it happened.”

His comments drew a sharp rebuke from Heitkamp, who voted against Brett Kavanaugh and talked not only about her work with victims, but her own mother:

“I think it’s wonderful that his wife has never had an experience, and good for her, and it’s wonderful his mom hasn’t,” she said. “My mom did. And I think it affected my mom her whole life. And it didn’t make her less strong.”

With tears welling in her eyes, Ms. Heitkamp stared intently at a reporter and continued: “And I want you to put this in there, it did not make my mom less strong that she was a victim. She got stronger and she made us strong. And to suggest that this movement doesn’t make women strong and stronger is really unfortunate.”

[image via screengrab]

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