Lisa Page owes an apology — to Peter Strzok’s wife
Lisa Page, the former FBI lawyer who became a frequent target of President Trump after criticizing him in text messages during his candidacy in 2016, poured her heart out to the Daily Beast’s Molly Jong-Fast last week. It was a master class in narcissism, because Page made the story all about her, sounding just like the man she despises.
Since her text messages were made public in 2017, Page has regularly been singled out by Trump, who has tweeted about her and even used her name while simulating an orgasm at one of his rallies.
In the Daily Beast expose, Page complains about how she feels threatened and exposed every time Donald Trump talks about her at rallies and in the public sphere. Predictably, she takes a swipe at the Make America Great Again folk, stating that “[I]f I’m walking down the street or shopping and there’s somebody wearing Trump gear or a MAGA hat, I’ll walk the other way or try to put some distance between us because I’m not looking for conflict. Really, what I wanted most in this world is my life back.”
Her lashing out at a president who has perfected the art of mocking his perceived enemies is justifiable. I mean, if I were the target of a manic Trump at one of his rallies, I’d be angry too.
In addition to the content of text messages, it’s also important to know who Page was texting: Peter Strzok, her FBI colleague with whom she was having an extramarital affair.
In the recent piece, Page laments the fact that her affair, what she calls “the most wrong thing I’ve ever done in my life” became public.
But still, to me, her interview was an exercise in navel-gazing and self-justification. And one thing that was missing? An apology.
Curiously, neither Page nor the journalist make any reference to the wronged spouse, although there are several mentions of Page’s husband who she still considers a part of her “support system.”
I read the article three times, looking for any mention of the woman who really is a victim in this mess: Peter Strzok’s wife.
This is about something different, something that transcends politics. This is about a woman so immersed in the victim zeitgeist advanced by so many progressive women in the last few years that she doesn’t even acknowledge how she was also a victimizer.
Page has shown absolutely no concern for the woman who has also been exposed to ridicule and embarrassment as she has, Mrs. Peter Strzok. There are many words we can use to describe Page, but victim is not one of them. And yet, she persists in presenting herself as the “victim” of PTSD, as the “victim” of Trump supporters, as the “victim” of a president who, with one tweet can “still sort of upend my day.”
What about the days of Peter Strzok’s wife? Frankly, this isn’t even about morality. Lots of people have affairs, including the man Page despises. That’s between them and whatever god they believe in.
This is about another woman coming before us to say “someone hurt me” without even once acknowledging her role in the debacle. More importantly, this is about a woman who can’t even stop licking her own wounds long enough to mop up the blood from the woman she’s shot through the heart.
The viewpoints expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Independent.
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