Wednesday, April 5, 2017

The Hill, July 7, 2015: GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump says he believes the sexual misconduct accusations lodged against comedian Bill Cosby. “Well, I think he’s guilty as hell,” Trump said during a radio interview to air Sunday. “I mean, he’s looking guilty, and last week’s event was very bad for him, where they had those documents unsealed,” he told host Rita Cosby (no relation) on 77 WABC in New York. Multiple women have accused Cosby of inappropriate sexual conduct over the years...The scandal generated new headlines earlier this month when court filings were made public in which Cosby admitted buying quaaludes, a sedative drug, to give to women he wanted to have sex with. Trump argued in the interview that he has never enjoyed watching the popular entertainer. “I’ve never been a fan of Bill Cosby,” he said. “I’ve known him, and I’ve never liked him.” “I think he is a highly overrated guy, both in talent and in many other ways,” Trump said.

Trump defends Bill O'Reilly: 'I don't think Bill did anything wrong'

In an interview with The New York Times, Trump defended O'Reilly against new revelations that he, Fox News and parent company 21st Century Fox had paid a total of $13 million in settlements to five women who accused him of sexual harassment or verbal abuse. 
"I think he's a person I know well — he is a good person," Trump told the Times. "I think he shouldn't have settled; personally I think he shouldn't have settled. Because you should have taken it all the way. I don't think Bill did anything wrong." 
O'Reilly has denied the merits of all the claims against him, 21st Century Fox said in a statement. 
Trump had his own run-in with sexual harassment accusations last October, after an Access Hollywood tape surfaced in which he said he grabbed women by their genitals. "I don't even wait," Trump can be heard saying in the tape. "And when you're a star, they let you do it, you can do anything." 
Last week, Trump declared April 2017 National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, pledging that his administration "will do everything in its power to protect women, children, and men from sexual violence." 
Trump's defense of O'Reilly was similar to his defense of former Fox News chief Roger Ailes last year, when Ailes was facing a litany of sexual harassment allegations. 
"I think they are unfounded just based on what I've read," Trump said of the accusations against Ailes. "Totally unfounded, based on what I read." 
Ailes, who has denied all of the allegations against him, was forced to resign from Fox News just one week after that interview.

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