Republican responses to the new assault allegation against Trump are both predictable and sad

The day after President Donald Trump used a shameful defense to deny E. Jean Carroll’s sexual assault accusation against him, saying “she’s not my type,” a number of prominent Republicans commented about the 22nd sexual misconduct allegation against the president in ways that stopped well short of criticizing him.

Carroll’s allegation is credible. Writing about it in an excerpt of her memoir that was published last Friday by New York magazine, Carroll says that, immediately after the alleged rape happened in 1995 or ’96, she told two close friends about being forcibly penetrated by Trump in a dressing room in a Bergdorf’s department store. The New York magazine piece notes that both of Carroll’s friends “still remember the incident clearly and confirmed their accounts to New York.”

But despite the credibility of Carroll’s allegation, all the other accusations against Trump, and the fact that the president infamously bragged in a hot mic recording released just before the 2016 election about groping women in a manner eerily similar to how Carroll alleged he assaulted her, Republicans are still standing by their man.

During a press conference on Tuesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said, “I know the president has said this is not true ... yes I believe the president.”

The HuffPost’s Igor Bobic compiled the responses from a number of other Senate Republican in a Twitter thread. Most didn’t go quite as far to defend Trump as McCarthy did, but none of them indicated they believe Carroll, either. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) perhaps went the furthest, saying that Carroll’s allegation is of a “very serious nature and it deserves to be considered and evaluated.”

Asked by Politico’s Burgess Everett about Trump’s comment that Carroll is “not my type,” Romney indicated he wished Trump would’ve refrained from commenting on her looks.

“The president indicated that this did not occur and that’s I think his strongest point to make,” he said.

Romney’s comment about Trump’s “not my type” comment was echoed by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).

According to Bobic’s thread, other Republicans offered comments about Carroll’s assault accusation that ranged from saying they weren’t even aware of it to impugning her motives for coming forward now:

• Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said, “I don’t have anything to say about that.”
• Asked if he believes Carroll, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said, “I don’t have any comment on that.”
• Asked if he believes Carroll, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said, “I take the president’s statement at face value.”
• Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said, “I don’t even want to get into believable or not believable. I know that she’s selling a book.”
• Asked about Carroll’s allegation, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) said, “I haven’t read it. I look forward to reading it.”
• Asked about Carroll’s allegation, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) said, “I haven’t seen that.”
• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said, “the president’s firmly denied it. That’s the end of it for me unless she shows something new.”

The Washington Post reported that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell responded to Carroll’s allegation on Tuesday by saying, “I don’t have any comments about that.” The Post quoted a number of other Republican senators who also didn’t seem especially troubled:

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said he had no comment. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida pleaded ignorance. “I honestly have been reading on policies, I just don’t know about the case,” Rubio said. “You’re asking me about a story I’ve never even read.”

Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, who has spoken publicly of being raped when she was in college, said that “it’s important any types of allegations like this are taken seriously, but they do have to be properly vetted.”

“We have to find out — are these accusations, is there a grave truth, is there not?” she added. “I don’t know that at this point.”

Meanwhile, Julie Davis of the New York Times reported that following a Senate Republican lunch, Ivanka Trump ignored questions from a CNN reporter about Carroll’s allegation in particular and about whether women should be believed in general.

Republican responses are disturbing, but not surprising

It’s not surprising that the 22nd sexual misconduct allegation against Trump, as credible as it might be, doesn’t represent a breaking point for Republicans who have stood by Trump for so long.

As my colleague Anna North has previously detailed, in the days following the October 2016 release of the aforementioned hot mic recording in which Trump is heard bragging about groping women, a number of prominent Republicans — including McConnell, then-House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), and US Senators such as Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) — criticized Trump. They stopped short, though, of demanding he drop out of the presidential election he won weeks later, even though his pushback to the string of allegations against him amounted to denigrating his accusers as not physically attractive enough for him.

While Republicans have played a leading role in normalizing Trump’s alleged predatory behavior, the media is responsible as well. Carroll’s allegation against Trump wasn’t front-page news over the weekend and hasn’t even been mentioned on Trump’s favorite TV show, Fox & Friends.

A number of prominent Democrats have responded to Carroll’s allegation with statements indicating they take the allegation seriously. Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) spoke out in perhaps the strongest terms so far, telling reporters that “we know Donald Trump’s character. And it’s revealed every single day. There aren’t any real surprises. Just the details.”

But there are indications that other Democrats have resigned themselves to believing that nothing will happen in response to sexual misconduct allegations against the president. The Post quotes Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) as saying, “There’s so many allegations of sexual harassment and other things on this president. I wouldn’t dismiss it, but let’s be honest, he’s going to deny it and little is going to come of it.”

Durbin’s sentiments were echoed by Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), who according to the Post responded to Carroll’s allegation by saying “It’s not particular new news, so I don’t know ... I think it stands on its own . . . I don’t think we need to take action.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer at least told the Post that “every allegation like this should be taken seriously” and that he regarded Carroll as “credible.” But if we didn’t know it already, the Republican reaction indicates that — short of smoking-gun evidence of Trump assaulting someone — no accusation will be credible enough for them to seriously consider breaking with the president.

The news moves fast. To stay updated, follow Aaron Rupar on Twitter, and read more of Vox’s policy and politics coverage.

Will you help keep Vox free for all?

At Vox, we believe that clarity is power, and that power shouldn’t only be available to those who can afford to pay. That’s why we keep our work free. Millions rely on Vox’s clear, high-quality journalism to understand the forces shaping today’s world. Support our mission and help keep Vox free for all by making a financial contribution to Vox today.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via