Former United States President Donald Trump has defended a Nebraska gubernatorial candidate accused of groping and sexual assault after allegedly targeting eight women.
Earlier this month, the Republican businessman's aides told him about the bombshell allegations involving Charles Herbster. However, instead of dropping his endorsement of the candidate, who is a longtime top donor and ally, Trump continued his support of the official.
Sexual Assault Allegations
The former president also continued to hold a Friday evening rally in support of the Nebraska candidate. Trump relayed word that Herbster was not fighting back hard enough against the accusations against him. He supported plans for the gubernatorial candidate to hold a press conference to aggressively deny the charges and push back at his opposition.
The Nebraska candidate followed suit, blasting the allegations as a "smear campaign" that was taken from the same "playbook" that was used to target Trump and Supreme Court justices, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh. The multimillionaire agricultural executive boasted that he had brought on a law firm that the former president used to defend himself against sexual misconduct accusations, as per Politico.
In his speech, Trump said that Herbster was "badly maligned" and called the entire situation a shame. He said he came out to Nebraska to defend people that he knew were good and continued to call the gubernatorial candidate a "good man."
The former president added that he was defending one of his friends, noting that he has been friends with Herbster for three decades. Trump said that the gubernatorial candidate was one of the most innocent human beings he has ever known. He noted that Herbster would be the last man to do any of the stuff that he is being accused of by multiple women.
According to The Hill, during the Nebraska rally, Trump invited Herbster to join him on stage, calling the candidate a person who was unfairly "put through a grinder." But the official only spoke for a moment where he praised the Republican businessman for the work he did while in office, including his Supreme Court appointments and moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
Trump's Influence in the GOP
The situation came after several women, including Republican state Sen. Julie Slama, accused Herbster of groping them at political events or beauty pageants. One woman added that the gubernatorial candidate forcibly kissed her. In six of the cases, at least one eyewitness corroborated the women's allegations.
The Nebraska candidate, who said that the allegations were "100% false," filed a lawsuit on Friday against Slama. The female official previously said that Herbster reached up her skirt during a Republican fundraising dinner in 2019. He claims that he has suffered "grievous harm to his reputation" from the accusation.
The May 10 Nebraska gubernatorial primary is only one of several upcoming tests for the influence of the former president's endorsement in GOP primaries. The candidates that Trump is supporting will be facing off in competitive primaries for House, Senate, and governor's races in May in various states, including Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, CNN reported.
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