Lincoln Project co-founder accused of harassment
Co-founder John Weaver faces accusations of online harassment from 21 men; David Spunt reports.
The Lincoln Project co-founder George Conway was ridiculed on Monday for the "laughable" claim that he barely knew the group's co-founder John Weaver after a bombshell New York Times report detailed a history of alleged predatory behavior.
The Times report featured interviews with 21 men who accused Weaver of sending "unsolicited and sexually provocative messages online to young men, often while suggesting he could help them get work in politics," including an alleged victim who was only 14 years old.
Conway, a face of the Lincoln Project that Weaver helped create, appeared on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" on Monday and oddly claimed he didn’t really know his own colleague when asked about the damning allegations.
The Lincoln Project co-founder George Conway was mocked on Monday for claiming he barely knew fellow co-founder John Weaver.
LINCOLN PROJECT DISAVOWS CO-FOUNDER JOHN WEAVER AFTER NYT DETAILS HISTORY OF HARASSMENT OF YOUNG MEN
"It's terrible and awful and appalling and unfathomable, I, I didn't know John very well. I frankly only spoke to him a couple of times on the phone early on in the Lincoln Project. It's almost, I don't even know what to say. It's just terrible," Conway told MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski. "It leaves me speechless, frankly."
Brzezinski didn’t bother to ask a follow-up question and quickly thanked Conway for joining MSNBC’s morning show. The Lincoln Project was formed by veteran Republican operatives – such as Weaver and Conway -- who openly despised President Trump and have since been embraced by the left.
In Dec. 2019, Weaver and Conway co-wrote a New York Times op-ed headlined, "We Are Republicans, and We Want Trump Defeated."
Fox News contributor and The Hill media columnist Joe Concha condemned Conway’s comment as "laughable" and accused Weaver’s now-former colleague of lying.
"You didn’t know him very well? You co-founded this Lincoln Project thingy, raised more than $80 million last year going into the election and, oh by the way, there is an op-ed in The New York Times that you co-wrote with Mr. Weaver," Concha said Monday on "The Faulkner Focus."
LINCOLN PROJECT CO-FOUNDER JOHN WEAVER ADMITS SENDING 'INAPPROPRIATE' MESSAGES TO MEN: REPORT
"So, you’re collaborating with him, you’re founding this project, millions of dollars raised and you barely knew him? It is laughable to see a lie like that told on national television," Concha said.
Many took to Twitter to mock Conway’s comment, Brzezinski's lack of a follow-up and the way The Lincoln Project has handled the allegations:
THE LINCOLN PROJECT CALLED OUT FOR REPEATEDLY PLAGIARIZING OTHER PEOPLE'S TWEETS
Last month, author Ryan James Girdusky sent a cryptic tweet claiming that one of the founding members of The Lincoln Project had been "offering jobs to young men in exchange for sex."
Girdusky's claim was quickly met with reactions from others on Twitter who made similar unproven claims, with many of them speculating that the initial tweet referred to Weaver.
Shortly afterward, Weaver admitted to "inappropriate" behavior in a statement published by Axios. Critics and media watchdogs immediately began questioning who knew about Weaver’s behavior and how long they knew about it. Multiple Lincoln Project leaders have appeared on MSNBC since the allegations surfaced, but they were not asked about claims made against Weaver until the Times reported that a 14-year-old boy was among the accusers.
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Weaver issued the following statement to the New York Times: "I am so disheartened and sad that I may have brought discomfort to anyone in what I thought at the time were mutually consensual discussions. In living a deeply closeted life, I allowed my pain to cause pain for others. For that I am truly sorry to these men and everyone and for letting so many people down."