Trump ‘indirectly' responsible for wave of sexual abuse allegations: Analyst
US President Donald Trump’s offensive actions and comments are “indirectly” responsible for the continuing wave of sexual misconduct allegations against powerful men in entertainment, politics and other sections of society, says an analyst in New York.
During last year’s presidential election, tapes emerged in which Trump boasted about sexually assaulting women. Trump dismissed the 2005 tape, first released by The Washington Post, as “locker-room banter.”
At least two dozen women have since come forward accusing Trump of inappropriate sexual behavior.
“It’s certainly true that the election of Donald Trump and his statements on racial and gender issues have emboldened lots of people across America to come out and behave; but it's indirectly responsible,” said Ian Williams, a senior analyst with Foreign Policy in Focus.
“What’s disturbing about these allegations is that many of them are historical,” going back many decades, Williams said in an interview with Press TV on Monday.
On Sunday, the Democratic leader in the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said it was the election of Trump, and,not disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, that was responsible for the growing wave of sexual misconduct allegations against powerful men in the US.
“Harvey [Weinstein] didn’t evoke this. The election of President Trump evoked what happened to Harvey and now everybody is served notice,” Pelosi told NBC’s Meet the Press.
The recent wave of sexual scandals began when Weinstein, a leading Hollywood producer, was hit with allegations of sexual harassment, assault or rape. Police are investigating multiple cases in the US and abroad.
Trump has expressed doubt about the authenticity of the "Access Hollywood" video in which he was recorded in 2005 bragging about his ability to grope women because he's "a star."
Trump has privately repeated the claim to advisers in recent weeks and even to a Republican senator earlier this year, according to The New York Times.
In the hours after the video was revealed in October 2016, then-candidate Trump acknowledged he made the lewd comments and apologized.
US lawmakers are also facing mounting pressure to end the culture of secrecy in Congress over sexual harassment as they return from a holiday break.
Members of both political parties are calling for Congress to pass legislation that overhauls the way sexual harassment claims are handled and to expose lawmakers who have paid settlements using taxpayer money.
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