Press Conference by President Trump
THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, I wasn't happy with Roy Moore. Let's get that straight. But Roy Moore was a Republican candidate -
Q But you stood by him.
THE PRESIDENT: - and I would have rather had a Republican candidate win. I was very happy with Luther Strange, who was a terrific man from Alabama, but Luther Strange had a lot of things going against him.
As far as women, whether it's a man or a woman, these are - you know, it can happen the other way. Allegations can go the other way also. You understand that. And whether it was a man or a woman, 30 years ago, 36 years ago - in fact, they don't even know how many years ago because nobody knows what the time is. That's a long time.
And I could pick, as an example - hopefully I won't have to do it as a replacement because hopefully this is going to go very well on Thursday. It's going to go very well on Monday, or Saturday, or Sunday, or whenever they vote. But I could pick a woman and she could have charges made from many years ago also.
Q But don't you understand, sir, that many of these -
THE PRESIDENT: And I would look at the character -
Q - many of these accusers -
THE PRESIDENT: No, what I have to do -
Q - are reluctant to come forward. You've raised doubts about these accusers. Many of them are reluctant to come forward.
THE PRESIDENT: I don't think people are reluctant to come forward. They're going to have a chance to speak at a major - they have a major chance to speak.
Q But you're saying why (inaudible) -
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me. Excuse me. They have a major chance to speak. And it will be tomorrow, I assume.
We've delayed this - meaning the Republican senators, not me. The Republicans senators have delayed this for weeks now. They're giving the women a major chance to speak.
Now it's possible I'll hear that, and I'll say, "Hey, I'm changing my mind." That is possible. We want to give them a chance to speak. And they're given -
Q Do you think all three should have a chance - all three should have a chance to speak?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, whoever is given a chance. We've delayed it a long time. But they're going to have a big shot at speaking and making their case. And you know what? I could be persuaded also. Okay?
Yes. Please. Please, go ahead. Go ahead. I would like to go - yes, go ahead. Please.
Q Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. And a couple of questions for you to follow up on some answers that I didn't quite hear from you, if you would allow me a couple of questions.
First of all, do you think these women - all three of them are liars? Yes or no?
THE PRESIDENT: Have they been what?
Q Are they liars?
THE PRESIDENT: I can't tell you. I have to watch tomorrow. I have to read. I just heard about one a little while ago. I can tell you her lawyer is a low life, okay? So I can't tell you whether or not they're liars until I hear them.
I don't know what happened today because I've been very busy with Japan, with South Korea, with China, and about seven other countries, as you know - and I chaired the Security Council.
So I don't know about today's person that came forward. I do know about the lawyer. And you don't get much worse - bad reputation, too. Take a look at his past.
So, as far as the other women are concerned, I'm going to see what happens tomorrow. I'm going to be watching - you know, believe it or not. I'm going to see what's said. It's possible that they will be convincing.
Now, with all of that being said, Judge Brett Kavanaugh has been, for many years, one of the most respected people in Washington. He's been on - I guess you'd call it the second highest court. And every single person knows him; a lot of people know him well. And those people don't believe what's going on. I can always be convinced. I have to hear it.
Q It sounds like what you're saying is, there is a situation, there is a scenario under which you would withdraw Brett Kavanaugh's nomination. Is that correct? And have you talked about that with him?
THE PRESIDENT: If I thought he was - if I thought he was guilty of something like this, yeah sure.
Q And you will wait until tomorrow to make up your mind about it?
THE PRESIDENT: I want to watch. I want to see. I hope I can watch. I'm meeting with a lot of countries tomorrow, but I will certainly, in some form, be able to watch. And I'll also rely on some very fair and talented Republican senators who - look, if we brought George Washington here and we said, "We have George Washington," the Democrats would vote against him, just so you understand.
And he may have had a bad past, who knows, you know. (Laughter.) He may have had some, I think, accusations made. Didn't he have a couple of things in his past? George Washington would be voted against 100 percent by Schumer and the con artists. I mean 100 percent. One hundred percent.
So it really doesn't matter from their standpoint. That's why when John asked about the FBI - if the FBI did the most thorough investigation in the history of the FBI, and they found him to be 100-percent perfect, he would lose every single vote.
Now, if the Republicans win tomorrow, I think you're going to get some votes from the Democrats. You know why? Because - we all know why - because it's called politics. Then you'll probably get some votes.
Okay, let's go.
Q And my final question, sir,
THE PRESIDENT: One more question. Yes.
Q Just to follow up -
THE PRESIDENT: She stands up: "I'd like to ask about three questions." It's not really fair to everyone else.
Q This will be my last one -
THE PRESIDENT: Should I let her ask another question?
(Crosstalk.)
Q - to follow up on -
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead. See?
Q - to follow up on a question that a colleague asked as well about the benefit of the doubt that you have given to people like Roy Moore, to Roger Ailes, to Bill O'Reilly, to Brett Kavanaugh. They're all men. Why is that?
THE PRESIDENT: It's not a benefit of the doubt. I've -
Q Has there ever been an instance when you've given the benefit of the doubt to a woman?
THE PRESIDENT: I've known them. Hallie, I've know them for a long time and - a lot of these people. A lot of people. And some I've been disappointed with. I have been disappointed with some. Others, like - you know, there are charges that are pretty weak.
But I've known people for a long time. I never saw them do anything wrong. I never saw them do anything wrong. And there are some that probably - I agree. I can tell you there are some that I - I've been watching for a long time. And in a couple of cases, they weren't Republicans. In a lot of cases, they were not; they were exactly the opposite.
But I've been watching them for a long time. And I knew for a long time these were not good people. And they were never brought up.
Okay. Yes, ma'am. Go ahead.
Thank you very much by the way. Thank you.
Q Thank you very much, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Q When the allegations first surfaced, you initially said how important it was for Dr. Ford to testify and that you wanted to hear from her.
THE PRESIDENT: I do.
Q But -
THE PRESIDENT: I wish it could have gone quicker.
Q Well, you also said that if what she said were as bad as she claims, surely her or her parents would have reported it. And just today, you said, you wouldn't -
THE PRESIDENT: Well, there is a truth. I mean there is a chance that her parents could have reported it 36 years ago.
Q So my question is -
THE PRESIDENT: It doesn't mean they had to report it because, in some instances, people keep it quiet. It's a very tough situation for a woman, there's no question about it. And in some cases, they do report it. Frankly, had they reported it, it would've been pretty amazing, wouldn't it?
But I guess they didn't, and that's okay. I'm not saying they had to report it because it's a very personal thing. It's a very big problem, there's no question about it.
Go ahead.
Q But do you want to hear her story before you draw a conclusion -
THE PRESIDENT: I'd like to hear her story, yeah. Well, we're giving her a time.
Q - or have you already made up your mind?
THE PRESIDENT: They would've given her time last week. This is the United States Senate. This is the most important position that a President can give out, I think we can say, by far. I've actually heard it's the most important decision a President can make. I disagree with that. War and peace - I always say, "War and peace." And after that, Supreme Court Justice. Right?
I look forward to hearing from her. We could've heard from her last week; we could have heard from her for a long time. It'll be interesting to hear what she has to say. Okay?
Q And let me follow up on Jim's question. Mr. President, let me follow up on Jim's question that I don't think we got an answer to.
THE PRESIDENT: Which one? Which question? Who?
Q How have your personal experiences being accused by more than a dozen women of sexual misconduct -
THE PRESIDENT: I've been accused. I've been accused. False accusations.
Q - right, how have those -
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me. I've been accused. And I was accused by - I believe, it was - four women. You can check with Sean Hannity. You can check with Fox, because they covered it very strongly - who got paid.
Q And how has (inaudible) -
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me. Excuse me. I was accused by four or five women who got paid a lot of money to make up stories about me. We caught them, and the mainstream media refused to put it on television. They refused to even write about it.
There were four women, and maybe more - I think the number is four or five. But one had a mortgage paid off her house, $52,000. Another one had other things happen. And the one that reported it, I believe, was offered $750,000 to say bad things about me - and she is the one that reported it. This woman is incredible. She reported it, instead of taking the money.
So I've had numerous accusations about me.
Q Right.
THE PRESIDENT: I mean, they made false statements about me, knowing they were false. I never met them. I never met these people. And, what did they do? What did they do?
They took money in order to say bad things. I've had stories written in the New York Times - front page - about four women. The whole top center front page of the New York Times. I think it was four big pictures.
I said, "Wow. That's a big thing. What's that?" These were women that were quoted saying bad things about me. Not the worst things about me, but bad things. And I said, "Gee, that's too bad." I knew them a long time ago - 15 years ago, 20 years ago. I said, "That's too bad. I'm surprised at them."
And then all of a sudden I see them on television - nothing to do with me. The next day or a day later, they were incensed. They said, "Donald Trump is a nice guy. We never said this. The New York Times did false reporting. They're fake news." And you know what? The New York Times would not report that their story was fake.
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