White House officials on Sunday continued to provide dubious explanations for their refusal to take a firm stance on the growing number of sexual misconduct allegations against Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore, more than a week after the first accusations came to light.
In the same breath, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney affirmed that he thinks the women who have come forward are “credible,” but still would not say whether he believes that their charges are true.
“You don’t believe them?” host Andrea Mitchell asked.
“No, I said they’re credible. I don’t know who to believe,” Mulvaney repeated.
“Well, if they’re credible, why wouldn’t you believe them?” Mitchell asked.
Mulvaney claimed that being in Washington meant that both he and Mitchell were not privy to “the specifics of these allegations,” and suggested her line of questioning came from “a certain political persuasion.”
“Andrea, I run the office of management and budget in Washington D.C. You work for NBC News in Washington D.C. My guess is we’ve not spent that much time looking at the specifics of these allegations,” he said. “You’ve arrived at a certain conclusion because of a certain political persuasion.”
Nearly 10 women have now come forward with allegations against Moore, 70, many of them involving him preying on teenage girls at a mall when he was in his 30s.
Moore has continually denied the stories, claiming they are a conspiracy against him, constructed by reporters and establishment Republicans in Washington.
Asked why President Donald Trump continues to ignore questions about Moore, Mulvaney reiterated the administration’s talking points. He said “the allegations are very serious,” but the decision whether to believe them and whether to support the candidate in Alabama’s Dec. 12 Senate special election is “up to the voters.”
On ABC’s “This Week,” White House legislative affairs director Marc Short dodged several questions on whether Trump “believes the women,” offering a similar explanation.
“I think he thinks it’s best for the people of Alabama to make that decision,” Short said.
Despite his silence on Moore, Trump on Thursday seized upon an allegation of sexual misconduct against Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.).
Mulvaney argued that the situations were different because “Franken admits it and Roy Moore denies it.”
Gregg Doyel flashed a heart sign at Caitlin Clark at her introductory press conference on Wednesday afternoon to kick off an incredibly strange back-and-forth.
It's another edition of 'Mock Draft Monday' on the pod and who better to have on then the face of NFL Network's draft coverage and a giant in the industry. Daniel Jeremiah joins Matt Harmon to discuss his mock draft methodology, what he's hearing about this year's draft class and shares his favorite five picks in his latest mock draft.
Tesla management told employees Monday that the recent layoffs -- which gutted some departments by 20% and even hit high performers -- were largely due to poor financial performance, a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. The layoffs were announced to staff just a week before Tesla is scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings. The move comes as Tesla has seen its profit margin narrow over the past several quarters, the result of an EV price war that has persisted for at least a year.
Our mostly off-road first drive reveals a well-executed off-roader with cool style and a high-quality interior. Well, not so much the interior in the 1958.
Victor Wembanyama's rookie NBA season is finished. The San Antonio Spurs will sit him in Sunday's regular-season finale. Where does his first season rank among the league's greats?