U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs the White House November 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump and his family are going to his Mar-a-Lago resort for the Thanksgiving holiday. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Many viewed the president’s comments as an endorsement of a candidate who has been accused by nearly ten women of sexual misconduct.
By Jake Johnson / 11.21.2017
In a brief question-and-answer session just before departing to his Mar-a-Lago resort for the Thanksgiving holiday, President Donald Trump on Tuesday offered what many took to be an endorsement of the GOP’s Alabama Senate nominee Roy Moore, saying “we don’t need a liberal person in there” and boosting Moore’s denials of the numerous sexual assault allegations—including by women who were minors at the time—that have been leveled against him.
“Is an accused child molester better than a Democrat?” asked one reporter.
“Look, he denies it,” Trump said in response, speaking publicly about Moore for the first time since the initial allegations emerged. “And by the way, he totally denies it.”
Asked to give a message to women amid the flood of sexual misconduct allegations against powerful men in several different industries, Trump said, “Women are very special, I think it’s a very special time, because a lot of things are coming out.”
Trump, however, wouldn’t respond when asked whether he believes the female accusers.
Trump says women are “very special” and sexual misconduct being exposed is “very very good for women” — but still sides with Roy Moore saying “he totally denies” allegations made against him@AriMelber has more on this story tonight 6pm ET pic.twitter.com/SN4FIzEQ1S
— TheBeat w/Ari Melber (@TheBeatWithAri) November 21, 2017
Trump’s comments on Moore came shortly after he characterized Moore’s Democratic opponent Doug Jones as “soft on crime” and argued his record is “terrible.”
“Terrible on crime, terrible on the border, terrible on the military,” Trump said. “I can tell you for a fact that we don’t need somebody that’s gonna be bad on crime, bad on borders, bad with the military, bad on the Second Amendment.”