ASHLEIGH BANFIELD (HOST): Look, I've had hundreds of thousands of responses to the decision here at CNN to read that letter uninterrupted, without production, just her words so that her words would be the star, and much of it has been from men. I want to read for you some quotes that appear on the website Mashable. The writer is Chris Taylor, he's a veteran British journalist, former Time magazine bureau chief, and it's really resonated with me because one of the letters that Brock Turner's father read in court was that he misses grilling a steak with his son. And Chris Taylor said, “If you teach your son to cook a good steak before you teach him to respect women and treat them as human beings at all times, you have failed at life.” He goes on to say, “Rape culture is a thing. I'm sorry if you bristle at that notion, guys, but it just is. Any time you put the onus on our daughters -- don't wear that dress, don't get drunk, don't lead guys on -- you are perpetuating it.” Sally Kohn, I can't stress enough, I think this woman's words may be the tipping point because they're resonating so far and wide with so many different demos.
SALLY KOHN: Well I think that's right, and I want to applaud her for her bold statement. And I'm so glad that it was made public and also more and more women are coming out and sharing stories like hers for the first time out of horror with this judgment. But I don't think Brock Turner's friend is an aberration. I think that part of it is we want to explain it away. These women want to think, oh, that's what rape is. It's not something that could happen to you or that these nice guys I know don't end up doing horrible things. Well let me tell you, the nice guy next door ends up beating his wife. The nice guy at work can be a rapist. This notion -- most rape happens with, is acquaintance rape.
BANFIELD: Eighty percent of it, right?
KOHN: And I have to say, this was also where I -- her part about how she blamed political correctness for sentencing him. Come on. Brock Turner is to blame for what happened here. And if his swimming career, if his steak time with his dad has suffered, well boo-hoo, shouldn't have done what he did. And this sort of notion that we should sort of pity him, it's related to, it is very much related to the men's rights and by extension the conservative movement in general for the last several years has attacked this notion that there is rape culture, has attacked this idea that we're getting too politically correct on campuses by trying to educate boys and girls about sexual assault and safety and responsibility, and said, 'Oh no, no, no, we're turning boys into -- they're too careful now, and everything is rape now, blah, blah, blah.' You know what? This is what happens. This is what happens.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD: Everything has been rape for a long time. Everything's been rape for a long time.
KOHN: This is what happens when you -- George Will in a Washington Post column attacked this sort of alleged crisis of sexual assault. Well, this is what we're talking about when we're talking about sexual assault. It is wrong. It is far too prevalent, and this culture we've had in this country in politics of masking it and masquerading it and making excuses for it, it's time it ends.
