Trump campaign manager on "thwarted" attempt to seat Clinton accusers in VIP box
Donald Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said Monday that the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates “thwarted” their attempt to put women who’ve accused President Bill Clinton of sexual assault in the the GOP presidential nominee’s V.I.P. box at the second debate.
“I was surprised that they thwarted that because of course it did not say family box. It said V.I.P. box and of course in the Clinton box, they had invited Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri,” Conway said in an interview on “CBS This Morning.”
“They threatened to have security remove the women,” she added. “I thought that was unfortunate because Mark Cuban got to sit where he wanted to sit.”
Conway was referring to four women whom Trump had invited to the debate. They delivered a statement with him before the town hall meeting began. They were Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey and Kathy Shelton.
“These women want to be heard,” said Conway, who suggested that Clinton had ruined their lives. “We agree with Hillary Clinton, she famously said a year ago that she believes all sexual assault victims deserve to be heard and believed. I’m sorry that there are exclusions to her list based on the way she’s treated them.”
Conway was asked about Trump’s relationship with his running mate Mike Pence since he appeared to throw him under the bus Sunday night.
“No, that’s not true. In fact, Mike Pence is on other networks right now talking about what a fabulous job his running mate did at the top of the ticket last night.”
Asked if the campaign fears there are more damaging videos involving Trump coming down the pipeline, Conway said, “There’s no way for me to know that...I was just very happy that he was embarrassed and apologized and said that this is not who he is.”
Conway suggested that Republicans who have withdrawn their endorsements of Trump should reconsider their support.
“As a campaign manager, we certainly welcome them back,” she said. “If those members can live with giving the next three or four Supreme Court justices over to Hillary Clinton, they should think about that.”