I'm surprised the defenses of sexual assault by the GOP haven't been stronger

It’s really an effect of our political culture.

With the Republican majority, it is more acceptable to be a cultural conservative Evangelical than a liberal.

And what do culturally conservative Evangelicals believe about women?

1. That they are either pure Madonna mother figures or that they are debased degenerate harlots who use sex for power over men

2. Poor women who lack social capital are only worth something as cheap labor and producing future cheap labor as well as producing the generation of soldiers who will fight and die in the end times

So objects, really.