President Trump admitted in a freewheeling press conference Wednesday that the sexual misconduct allegations against him do affect how he views the allegations against his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Mr. Trump’s remarks came hours after a third women came forward to make claims of misconduct against Kavanaugh. On Thursday, attorney Michael Avenatti released a sworn declaration from Julie Swetnick, who claims Kavanaugh was “present” when she was “gang raped” at a party in high school. Kavanaugh is expected to testify, along with his first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, before the Senate Judiciary Committee after 10 a.m. Thursday.
The president said the allegations against him do affect his views, given that the charges against him are “false.”
“Well, it does impact my opinion,” Mr. Trump said, in response to repeated questioning from CBS News correspondent Weijia Jiang. “I’ve had a lot of false charges made. I am a very famous person, unfortunately. I’ve had a lot of false charges made against me, really false charges.”
Mr. Trump reiterated his support for Kavanaugh throughout the press conference, lauding him as one of the great intellects of the country. But he did say he could change his mind after testimony from the women accusing the nominee. “That is possible,” he said.
Asked by CBS News’ Steven Portnoy what message the president is sending to young men with his stance on Kavanaugh, Mr. Trump decried a situation he sees as “guilty until proven innocent.”
“In this case, you’re guilty until proven innocent,” he said.
Highlights from Trump’s press conference:
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