Reporter asks Sarah Huckabee Sanders whether she has ever been sexually harassed or has empathy for accusers
Screenshot/White House
- A reporter asked the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, during a press briefing on Monday whether she had ever been sexually harassed or had empathy for victims.
- The question was one of several concerning the multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against President Donald Trump.
After facing several questions about the multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against President Donald Trump, the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was asked by a reporter during a press briefing on Monday whether she had ever been sexually harassed or had empathy for victims.
"Absolutely I would say that I have an empathy for any individual who has been sexually harassed, and that certainly would be the policy of the White House," Sanders said.
"I'm not here to speak about my personal experience on that front, but I'm here to relay information on behalf of the president," she added.
Trump, who maintains that all 19 women who have accused him of sexual harassment or abuse are "liars," has both praised women across the US for coming forward with their stories of sexual abuse and defended men accused of sexual misconduct, including Roy Moore, the US Senate candidate in Alabama.
Moore has been accused of engaging in sexual misconduct with teenage girls when he was in his 30s. One woman says Moore molested her, and another says he sexually assaulted and attempted to rape her.
The White House released a statement on Monday morning, as three of Trump's accusers spoke on NBC News' "Megyn Kelly Today" about their experiences.
The statement called the allegations against the president politically motivated.
"These false claims, totally disputed in most cases by eyewitness accounts, were addressed at length during last year's campaign, and the American people voiced their judgment by delivering a decisive victory," the statement read. "The timing and absurdity of these false claims speaks volumes, and the publicity tour that has begun only further confirms the political motives behind them."
Sanders restated that position in her response to questions during Monday's press briefing.