President Donald Trump is defending Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh against allegations of sexual assault when he was in high school, questioning why the accuser or her parents didn’t take the matter to law enforcement when it allegedly occurred and praising Kavanaugh as having “an impeccable reputation.”
Kavanaugh is only the latest man whom the president has defended amid allegations of sexual misconduct or physical or sexual assault.
Others include former White House aide Rob Porter, former Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, Fox News’ late CEO Roger Ailes and former host Bill O’Reilly, and former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
Trump himself has faced repeated allegations of sexual misconduct or assault, which he has dismissed by calling the women who have accused him “liars.”
Trump appeared for several days to hold back on calling out Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, who says that he sexually assaulted her when the two were in high school in the Washington, D.C., suburbs in the 1980s. But on Friday, a week after the allegations against Kavanaugh become public, the president appeared to question the veracity of Ford’s account, tweeting that he has “no doubt” that if the attack “was as bad as she says,” she or her parents would have complained to police.
Similarly, in an apparent response to Ford’s lawyers’ request to the Senate Judiciary Committee that the FBI investigate her allegations, Trump tweeted, “Why didn’t someone call the FBI 36 years ago?”
Kavanaugh has strongly denied what he called the “completely false allegation.” The nominee said, “I have never done anything like what the accuser describes — to her or to anyone … This never happened.”
Trump has continued to be lavish in his praise of Kavanaugh since the accusation surfaced, telling a crowd at a rally in Las Vegas on Friday night, “Brett Kavanaugh is one of the finest human beings you will ever have the privilege of knowing or meeting.”
Trump continued that Kavanaugh is “a great intellect, a great gentleman, [with] an impeccable reputation, went to Yale Law School, top student.”
Rob Porter resigned as White House staff secretary in February amid allegations of domestic abuse by his two ex-wives.
Porter denied the allegations in a statement in the wake of his resignation, CNN reported Feb. 7. “These outrageous allegations are simply false,” he said in his statement, CNN reported. “I have been transparent and truthful about these vile claims, but I will not further engage publicly with a coordinated smear campaign.”
Trump responded to Porter’s departure by praising his work performance and wishing him well. The president in his Feb. 9 remarks didn’t mention the women alleging the abuse.
“He says he’s innocent, and I think you have to remember that,” the president said. “It’s obviously a tough time for him. He did a very good job when he was in the White House, and we hope he has a wonderful career, and hopefully he will have a great career ahead of him.”
Trump said news of the allegations was “very sad.”
“It was very sad when we heard about it,” the president said. “And certainly, he’s also very sad.”
Five days later after his initial remarks about Porter, Trump made another statement, saying he is “totally opposed” to domestic violence. He did not specifically tie his comment to the accusations against Porter.
“I am totally opposed to domestic violence and everybody here knows that,” Trump said on Feb. 14. “I am totally opposed to domestic violence of any kind. Everyone knows that.”
Back in November, ahead of the special election to fill the Senate spot in Alabama vacated by Jeff Sessions, Trump publicly weighed in on the embattled Republican candidate Roy Moore.
Trump spoke of the multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against Moore and sided with him.
“You have to listen to him also” and “he totally denies it,” Trump said.
Moore was accused by eight women of sexual misconduct or impropriety. He denied those claims.
Trump defended former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly after an April 1 New York Times report that described settlements he reached with five women who accused him of harassment. O’Reilly denied the misconduct claims.
Trump, who has known O’Reilly for years, told the Times O’Reilly is “a person I know well” and “a good person” and that he didn’t think “Bill did anything wrong.”
“Personally, I think he shouldn’t have settled,” Trump said.
After Roger Ailes stepped down as Fox News Chairman and CEO, Trump praised him and said: “He’s been a friend of mine for a long time.”
Ailes’ resignation came after former anchor Gretchen Carlson left Fox News on June 23 and shortly afterward filed a lawsuit against her former boss. Fox News and Ailes, who died in May 2017, had denied Carlson’s allegations. Carlson settled the lawsuit for a reported $20 million.
Carlson was one of several women, including Megyn Kelly, who came forward with allegations of impropriety against Ailes during his tenure at Fox. Then-candidate Trump came to his defense.
“Some of the women that are complaining, I know how much he’s helped them…now all of a sudden, they are saying these horrible things about him, it’s very sad because he’s a very good person. I’ve always found him to be just a very, very good person,” Trump said during an appearance on “Meet the Press” in July 2016.
In March 2016, Trump’s then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was accused of grabbing a female reporter after a campaign event, and Trump’s campaign responded with a statement from then-campaign press secretary Hope Hicks saying the accusation was “entirely false.”
Trump himself weighed in two days later, after the March 10 Republican primary debate.
“Everybody said nothing happened. Perhaps she made the story up,” Trump said.
Weeks later, when charges were filed against Lewandowski, Trump tweeted and called Lewandowski “a very decent man” and said that the footage of the incident showed “nothing there!”
