A senior adviser to Donald Trump’s campaign launched an unwavering defense of the latest in a string of sexual abuse allegations against the former president – this time brought by a former swimsuit model – saying her claim is “fake” and “silly” to discuss on CNN.
The moment came Thursday on CNN’s “The Situation Room” after Republican Bryan Lanza scoffed at the new claims that emerged in the waning days before the Nov. 5 election by rejecting them as “dangerous” and then chastising the network for discussing the topic on-air.
“There's no date, there's nothing related to this that comes out and makes this allegation, and CNN – which is a major news organization for over 40 years – decides to talk about this? It just seems silly to me," Lanza said.
Host Wolf Blitzer reminded the Trump campaign adviser that Trump “has a history of these kinds of allegations against him, last year he was found liable for sexual abuse.”
Lanza unflinchingly continued with his theme “of women making these things up."
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"We saw this in 2016 that a lot of women came forward and none of the evidence came forward after that," he told Blitzer.
“How dare you?” Alencia Johnson, a Democratic strategist and senior adviser to the Harris campaign, shot back while she and Lanza continued to talk over each other.
“How dare you trivialize women’s experiences and say that we…make these stories up because that is not true,” Johnson said. “I don't understand how you could sit up here as a man and say that you don't believe this woman’s story or the hundreds of women who continue to come out and [be] brave enough to talk about the predatory behavior that has led them into these types of situations.”
Lanza sarcastically told Johnson she was “right.”
“I don’t believe somebody two weeks before an election, you’re right,” he said.
The tense exchange concluded with the two opposing advisers debating which candidate would win women’s votes.
Watch the tense clip below or at this link.