A member of Georgetown University’s Master of Science in Foreign Service advisory board wished a sexual assault upon conservative commentator Allie Stuckey over the weekend.
“Wishing you a #metoo moment,” Georgetown advisor Jeff Bernstein said in a tweet to conservative commentator Allie Stuckey over the weekend. “Maybe then you won’t be so insensitive.”
Bernstein’s tweet came in response to Stuckey’s tweet in which she argued that the #MeToo movement is a “symptom of a broken world.” She later clarified the tweet, saying that she was arguing “that we live in a broken (sinful) world, and sexual assault and harassment is symptomatic of that brokenness.”
Stuckey immediately attempted to bring Bernstein’s remark to the attention of the Georgetown University administration. “Is this the kind of standard your university holds for advisors?” she wrote in a tweet that tagged the university’s official Twitter account.
Bernstein ultimately chose to apologize, saying that he felt “terribly” over his remark. He claimed that as a “father of three,” he was especially embarrassed.
“I apologize,” he wrote. “I shouldn’t have said that. I thought you were implying that the fact that this moment is happening meant that the world was not functioning properly, similar to how you have minimized the terrible things Trump has said/done. I would never wish harm on anyone.”
“I apologize for making a stupid and insensitive comment. I would never wish harm on anyone and apologized to Allie repeatedly,” he said later. “I feel terribly. I have been a continuous voice against gender bias. As a father of three, I am embarrassed and this is a lesson for me that words have power.”
Stuckey said in a comment on the incident that she found Bernstein’s reply insulting to anyone who has endured sexual assault or harassment. “How awful — not just to me, but to every woman and man who has endured sexual assault and harassment,” Stuckey said. “And while I have, at times, disagreed with the tactics of the #metoo movement, I take the issue of sexual abuse, and its victims, very seriously. I would never — no matter someone’s political leanings — wish the pain of assault on anyone.”