The pundits have scrambled to explain away their perplexing #MeToo U-turns. Brazile told the Daily Beast, ‘Many of my friends today are disappointed that I answered Mark’s call, but I did so after he understood where I was coming from.’

Granholm was a little less convincing, appearing to claim she had no idea who Halperin was: ‘Spoke with him by phone once a few months ago about how to defeat Trump in the Midwest. Did not mean to hurt anyone, ever; should have done more research. My sincere apologies.’

Renteria tweeted, ‘As my record shows, I have no sympathy for people with a history of sexual harassment in the workplace and I’m not interested in rehabilitating anyone’s career. At the same time, women and people of color are worse off when our voices and experiences are left out of campaign histories like this. I respect people who might have taken a different path, but to win the fight for women’s equality, we need to tell our own stories and not let anyone – especially people with a history of harassment – speak for us.’