In the immediate aftermath of O.J. Simpson’s acquittal for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, the country was torn between celebrating a victory over a racist judicial system and mourning an outcome that seemed to defy the evidence. Donald Trump saw an opportunity for cheap publicity.
Soon after the verdict, Trump called a New York gossip reporter and bragged about his association with the former football star. He also said Simpson called him from his infamous acquittal party to talk real estate.
“The real estate tycoon contacted New York’s gossip columnists to report that Simpson called him at 2 a.m. Wednesday, while his acquittal party was still going on, saying he wanted to move to New York,” the reporter wrote. “Trump said Simpson expressed interest in The Trump International, the 52-story former Gulf & Western Building that Trump is converting into condo apartments selling for $1 million to $10 million.”
The reporter thought Trump was lying or at least misinformed. He went on to write: “Trump seems to have forgotten that Simpson already has his own New York pad and probably isn’t in any financial position to be paying $1 million or more for another. Simpson owns an elegant cooperative apartment on Manhattan’s East 65th Street, and although he has had it on the market, he has been unable to sell it.”
The episode showed a side of Trump that voters are now seeing up close: In the wake of scandal ― often involving sexual abuse, rape or even murder ― he doesn’t mind elbowing his way into the conversation. More often than not, he comes down on the side of the accused, seemingly to generate publicity or cash.
Years before the Simpson verdict came down, Trump defended another sports hero accused of a heinous crime. When Mike Tyson faced a rape charge, Trump was in his corner. When the boxer was convicted and sentenced to prison, Trump concocted a scheme to keep him out. Instead of putting Tyson behind bars, he wanted him to fight Evander Holyfield ― with the proceeds going to a trust to benefit rape victims in Indiana, where Tyson had been convicted.
It wasn’t just a showman’s gambit. Trump put pressure on Desiree Washington, the rape victim in the case, to support his stunt. He went so far as to hold a press conference where he argued that Washington would be letting down other rape victims if she said no.
“A tremendous amount of money can be given to victims of rape and victims of abuse, and I think it can be much stronger than throwing people in jail for a long time,” Trump said. “Much more can be done by this rather than incarcerating someone.”
Prosecutors rejected the idea. Tyson went to prison. And Trump kept on defending him. In one interview, he suggested that Washington had invited the behavior and that the entire episode was overblown and bungled by Tyson’s legal team. He called the conviction a “travesty.”
Years after Tyson was sent to prison, President Bill Clinton stood accused of having an affair with a White House intern. Trump dismissed the episode and went on to disparage Clinton’s accusers for their looks.
“Linda Tripp may be one of the most unattractive human beings I’ve ever seen ― not women, human beings. She’s just an unattractive person. This [Lucianne] Goldberg person, her agent or whatever she is, is just a terrible woman. You look at Paula Jones, I mean the whole cast of characters ... It’s like it’s from Hell. It’s a terrible group of people,” Trump told Fox News.
Now on the campaign trail and running against Hillary Clinton, Trump has notably changed his tune.
It wasn’t just famous sex scandals that Trump weighed in on. The local ones that became national news drew his attention, too. And, as was often the case, he viewed sex squarely as an act of indulgence, failing to grasp the emotional or physical damage it could produce.
In 2012, for instance, Trump was asked about female teachers having sex with their young male students.
“Well I don’t think the male students have been hurt by it,” he replied. “In fact they’re going around bragging about it as I understand it so ― I don’t see a lot of damage done but it’s a very unusual situation. I would say her husband cannot be happy.”
For the vast majority of the 2016 campaign, this history was known. But it was largely considered part of the eccentric ways of a publicity-hungry businessman who had made his name pursuing riches and women.
In recent weeks, however, video of Trump has surfaced in which he lewdly discusses grabbing women’s genitals; former Miss USA contestants have said Trump would barge in on them naked when he ran the pageant; and several women have accused Trump of sexual assault.
These episodes suddenly give us greater insight into how the GOP presidential nominee actually views assault, rape and unwanted sexual advances. So does the fact that he hasn’t hesitated to rely on Roger Ailes ― the former Fox News chief executive embroiled in his own sexual assault scandal ― to help prepare him for debates. Indeed, when the accusations against Ailes first surfaced, Trump rushed to his defense.
“I can tell you that some of the women that are complaining, I know how much he’s helped them, and even recently. And when they write books that are fairly recently released, and they say wonderful things about him. And now, all of a sudden, they’re saying these horrible things about him,” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press”
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