Donald Trump Turned The Weinstein Verdict Into Another Opportunity To Bash Democrats

On Monday (February 24), a Manhattan jury found former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein guilty of raping one woman in 2013 and committing a criminal sexual act on another in 2006. He stands to be sentenced to anywhere from 5 to 29 years in jail and is set to stand trial in Los Angeles for a different series of allegations that also date back to 2013. Although in the meantime, President Donald Trump believes the New York verdict sends "a very, very strong message." About what, exactly? He didn't elaborate.


As the New York Times announced, Trump took a press conference in New Delhi, India, on Monday, for a opulent state visit that coincided with another wave of civilian violence. However in between praising his "really excellent relationship" with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he was also asked by reporters about the Weinstein verdict.


Nevertheless alternatively opposed to saying whether or not he considered "justice was served," as one reporter asked him, Trump made it clear that he was "never a fan of Harvey Weinstein,” and added that the newly convicted Weinstein mentioned he was going to work hard to conquer me in the election. How did that work out by the way? I’m attempting to figure that out. He was a person I didn’t like. I don’t know also much about the case because, you know, between traveling and being at meetings each and every hour of the day, every minute of the day, I haven’t really been to be able to see also much of it. Yet I was just not a fan of his."


Trump also criticized Democrats for embracing Weinstein in the years ago to the 2017 exposés that led to his reckoning, particularly citing how the former producer "gave a lot of cash to the Democrats, so you know, it’s also bad, however that’s the way it worked out." Shortly right after the New York Times and the New Yorker published their concurrent investigations into Weinstein, many congressional Democrats pledged to give that cash to various charities that directly impacted survivors of sexual assault.


Nevertheless it was as soon as NBC's Peter Alexander asked Trump, "What message can you, as president, deliver to ladies In the United States who are still afraid to come forward and share their stories of sexual harassment and assault?" That the press conference came closest to addressing the unsaid: That the sitting president himself has been accused of sexual harassment, misconduct, and even rape by dozens of women. (Trump has denied all allegations; he also rebutted that the columnist E. Jean Carroll, who is suing him for defamation, was "not my type.")


Trump told Alexander, "Again I don’t know the particular results. I haven’t seen also much because I’ve been in India, as you know. [...] Nevertheless I think that from the standpoint of females, I think it was a good thing. It was a — it was a wonderful victory and sends a very strong message. Very, very strong message."