Donald Trump at U.S.-Mexico border
Presidential hopeful Donald Trump quickly distanced himself Tuesday from fiery comments made by one of his top advisers, who told the Daily Beast it was legally impossible for a spouse to rape a spouse.
Michael Cohen, one of Trump’s legal advisers, told the Daily Beast, “you can’t rape your spouse,” while addressing the news outlet’s then-looming story about a decades-old accusation from Ivana Trump. The former Mrs. Trump alleged in 1989 her then-husband raped her, though not in the “criminal sense,” she reportedly said.
When asked about that allegation, which made its way into the public sphere in a 1993 book about the Trumps’ divorce, Cohen told the Daily Beast: “You’re talking about the frontrunner for the GOP, presidential candidate, as well as a private individual who never raped anybody. And, of course, understand that by the very definition, you can’t rape your spouse. It is true. You cannot rape your spouse. And there’s very clear case law.”
When told by the Daily Beast reporter that New York struck down the marital-rape exemption in 1984, Cohen launched into a profanity-laced tirade.
“I will make sure that you and I meet one day while we’re in the courthouse. And I will take you for every penny you still don’t have. And I will come after your Daily Beast and everybody else that you possibly know,” Cohen ranted, according to the news website.
The comments caused some jaw-dropping among pundits, political watchers and the general populace.
Cohen on Tuesday morning apologized for the remarks, admitting in an email to the New York Daily News that he “made an inarticulate comment.”
“As an attorney, husband and father there are many injustices that offend me but nothing more than charges of rape or racism. They hit me at my core,” Cohen told The News. “Rarely am I surprised by the press, but the gall of this particular reporter to make such a reprehensible and false allegation against Mr. Trump truly stunned me. In my moment of shock and anger, I made an inarticulate comment — which I do not believe — and which I apologize for entirely.”
Trump, meanwhile, offered a quick statement of rebuttal, saying Cohen didn’t speak for him, that he spoke for himself – a statement that was put out, somewhat curiously, by one of his spokespeople.
“Mr Trump didn’t know of his comments, but disagrees with him,” a Trump spokesperson told the Hill.
And on CNN on Tuesday, a campaign source said: “Mr. Trump speaks for Mr. Trump and nobody but Mr. Trump speaks for him.”
Trump later took to the airwaves to call the accusations “total nonsense.”
“First of all, it’s totally false. I was really happy to see to this because I heard about it and it never happened, it was total nonsense,” Trump said Tuesday on WABC Radio’s “Geraldo Rivera Show.” “They know that. Maybe it was a lawyer tactic or something.”
“I don’t know where the hell it came from, but it certainly didn’t happen. You would’ve heard about that many years ago,” Trump added.
Ivana Trump herself also played down the controversy — and endorsed his presidential run — saying that the two are still “the best of friends.”
“I have recently read some comments attributed to me from nearly 30 years ago at a time of very high tension during my divorce from Donald. The story is totally without merit,” Ivana Trump told CNN.
“Donald and I are the best of friends and together have raised three children that we love and are very proud of. I have nothing but fondness for Donald and wish him the best of luck on his campaign,” she said.
“Incidentally, I think he would make an incredible president,” Ivana Trump, who divorced her husband in 1992, added.
from PropagandaGuard https://propagandaguard.wordpress.com/2015/07/28/ivana-defends-trump-against-rape-claims/
from WordPress https://toddmsiebert.wordpress.com/2015/07/28/ivana-defends-trump-against-rape-claims/
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