The boys in Delta Tau Chi have gone too far. Following reports of chauvinist comments and sophomoric pranks this term, two members were recently caught on an open microphone making light of an alleged sexual harassment incident. By “the boys in Delta Tau Chi,” we actually mean “the fully grown men who serve as elected representatives in the Oklahoma Legislature,” but some of the straight-up misogyny witnessed in this legislative session seems easier to wrap your head around if you imagine it coming from doofy frat brothers in a purposely stupid 1970s comedy.
Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, and Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, were caught on a hot mic discussing an ongoing sexual misconduct investigation. News 9 footage shot prior to a May 13 press conference finds McBride asking Fetgatter about an allegation that Rep. Chris Kannady, R-Oklahoma City, and Rep. Kevin McDugle, R-Broken Arrow, trapped an unnamed female representative in a restaurant booth, showed her a pornographic video and touched her inappropriately.
“’You molested this girl after Kannady did?’” McBride asked Fetgatter, according to News 9’s transcription of the conversation, which continues, “Fetgatter seems to reply, ‘No, I was at the table and I allowed it.’ McBride then appears to ask, ‘Are you sure it wasn’t a donkey or a goat?’”
News 9 reported McBride, who previously made headlines in 2015 when Fox 25 obtained a profane and threatening voicemail he left for a former employee, declined to comment, but Fetgatter issued a statement saying his comments had been “taken out of context” and that he has “never seen anything inappropriate happen or sexual harassment occur during [his] time in the House of Representatives.”
Gov. Kevin Stitt, who initially called for the now-overshadowed press conference, told Fox 25, “If any of that stuff's true, that's disappointing, but it's also disappointing that people are joking about stuff like that.” We agree. At least some of the jokes in National Lampoon's Animal House are funny.
