Glenn Beck’s TV network The Blaze last week put together skits mocking a sexual assault survey cited by President Obama and others when discussing rape on college campuses. On Thursday, Glenn Beck defended The Blaze’s attempt to debunk the surveys and explained that he understands how serious the issue of sexual abuse is.
The Blaze’s Stu Burguiere claimed that two studies, including the 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, inflated statistics on rape.
“But, how do you figure out if someone’s been raped? One way would be to ask the person if they have been raped. But, why do that when you can ask misleading questions and try and figure it out for yourself!” he asked. “The study asked questions like: ‘When you were drunk, high, drugged, or passed out and unable to consent, how many people ever had sex with you?'”
He then argues that alcohol does not only lead to nonconsensual sex, ignoring the phrase “and unable to consent.”
Burguiere then has two guys on the show act out a few of the questions asked in the survey, sarcastically labeling each scenario as “RAPE!” Burguiere neglects to explain that the survey also asks about sexual coercion and separates it from rape in the statistics. Watch the video here.
The Blaze’s skits mocking the sexual assault survey prompted some negative coverage on Wednesday to which Beck himself addressed on his radio show on Thursday.
“Rape is not a laughing matter, not is it a matter that you lie about. You don’t cheapen the real horror of rape,” he said on his show. “I’m tired of being accused of standing with abusers and rapists. I’m tired of being called a monster. I’m just tired of the lies.”
Beck goes on to explain in a tearful monologue that his father was sexually abused when he was younger. Beck explains that while his father did not sexually abuse anyone, he did physically abuse members of Beck’s family.
“My family has felt the ramifications of his abuse and has felt the sexual abuse by others in our family,” he said. “Don’t you ever preach to me about what I can say and cannot say about rape. Don’t you ever try to be an authority to me on the effects of rape. Don’t you ever try to tell me what victims should or should not feel as I have tried to piece my family back together and to give my sisters the love that they deserve and have never had.”
“If you had the facts on how brutal rape is, it shows how awful your peer-reviewed study questions really are,” Beck continued. “Let’s contrast and compare, shall we, America? Who is really hurting women? Who is standing up for women? Who is defending them and who is using them merely for political power? Have you no shame?”
Watch Beck’s monologue:
[H/t Right Wing Watch]
