During an Oval Office press gaggle Friday, President Donald Trump dismissed prostitution charges filed against his friend Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, by noting that Kraft said the charges are baseless.
"He has denied it," Trump told reporters.
Washington Post correspondent Josh Dawsey noted on Twitter that it's "always interesting, with Trump, or any politician for that matter, to see who gets the benefit of the doubt and who doesn't."
“It’s very sad,” Trump told reporters about Kraft's charges, which were filed during a sex trafficking sting at a massage parlor in Jupiter, Florida. “I was very surprised to see it. He’s proclaimed his innocence totally. But I was very surprised to see it.”
As one Twitter user noted, Trump's defense of men accused of harming women is well-documented.
As journalist Judd Legum noted, the president defended "accused sex criminals" such as failed Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, ousted Fox News chairman Roger Ailes and, most notably, "himself."
Another user noted that the president was quoted in Bob Woodward's White House tell-all "Fear" giving similar advice about being accused of wrongdoing.
"You've got to deny, deny, deny and push back on these women," Trump, as quoted by the Watergate journalist, said. "If you admit to anything and any culpability, then you're dead. That was a big mistake you made."
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