Just 90 minutes before he was to face off with Hillary Clinton at Sunday night’s presidential debate, Donald Trump appeared with four of Bill Clinton’s accusers on a panel that was broadcast on Facebook Live.
“These four very courageous women have asked to be here and it was our honor to help them,” Trump said, sitting in between Juanita Broaddrick, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, and Kathy Shelton.
In a video Trump’s campaign posted early Saturday morning, Trump apologized for lewd and vulgar remarks made in a 2005 “Access Hollywood” recording. That recording, in which Trump boasts that to get women he would “grab them by the pussy,” has triggered an exodus of major Republican figures from supporting his campaign.
In his apology video, Trump also brought up former president Clinton’s sexual indiscretions, raising the possibility that he might cite them at Sunday night’s debate.
“I’ve said some foolish things, but there’s a big difference between the words and actions of other people,” Trump said in the video on Saturday. “Bill Clinton has actually abused women and Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed, and intimidated his victims. We will discuss this more in the coming days. See you at the debate on Sunday.”
In the Facebook Live appearance, Broaddrick said that although Trump “may have said some bad words,” Bill Clinton “raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me. I don’t think there’s anything worse.”
Jennifer Palmieri, communications director for Clinton’s campaign, said in a statement, “We’re not surprised to see Donald Trump continue his destructive race to the bottom. Hillary Clinton understands the opportunity in this town hall is to talk to voters on stage and in the audience about the issues that matter to them, and this stunt doesn’t change that. If Donald Trump doesn’t see that, that’s his loss. As always, she’s prepared to handle whatever Donald Trump throws her way.”
