April 5: On This Day In 2017
“A good person.” The NYT reported that top FOX News anchor Bill O’Reilly reached a $32 million settlement with a woman who had accused him of inappropriate behavior. This was “at least the sixth agreement…made by either Mr. O’Reilly or the company to settle harassment allegations against him.”
That’s quite a bit of “inappropriate behavior.” Yet OTDI 2019, Trump stepped up to defend O’Reilly, saying he was “a good person.”
“I think he shouldn’t have settled,” Trump contended. “I don’t think Bill did anything wrong.” Advertisers who looked at the evidence disagreed. They dropped O’Reilly en masse, and Fox eventually forced him out about a week later, sending him into oblivion.
Why does Trump keep doing this? Trump has frequently supported powerful men accused of sexually harassing women. Could that be because…he himself has faced so many similar charges? From at least 18 women?
Trump stands alone, though, because he has actually been found liable in a court, and penalized, for his behavior towards women. As the judge proclaimed after the E. Jean Carroll trial, in common parlance, Donald Trump raped her.
Dive deeper
NYT covers the payment(s)
Politico covers Trump’s defense of O’Reilly
ABC compiled a list of some accusations against Trump
On This Day In The Trump Administration: Trump defends yet another accused sexual abuser