American liberals badly needed a hero to get them through Donald Trump’s administration. The problem was, everyone on offer turned out to be problematic.

Hillary Clinton had lost the 2016 election. Tim Kaine was too boring. Colin Kaepernick was too unpatriotic. Bernie Sanders and the Squad were too far left. It was hard to keep track of whether James Comey was good or bad. Michael Avenatti was too sleazy. And Al Franken was too creepy. Indeed, many men were suddenly too creepy.

Into this desperate breach stepped journalism.