Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump attempted to seat women that have accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault in his family’s box for the Sunday night debate.
This was described by the Washington Post as:
“…an attempt to intimidate Hillary Clinton and embarrassing her husband”
Trump’s plan was kept quiet and was largely unknown to many of his staffers and several of his top aides. However, he was caught in the last minutes prior to execution when officials intervened.
The Commission on Presidential Debates informed Trump that if he tried to seat Clinton’s accusers in his family’s box then security would remove the women.
Had he pulled off this stunt, Bill Clinton’s accusers would have been placed in prime seats at the townhall-style debate venue, and likely panned to during shots of the respective candidates families.
Who Came Up With The Stunt?
The plan was devised by Trump campaign chief executive Stephen K. Bannon, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. It was approved personally by Trump.
Three of the four women have alleged that Bill Clinton sexually assaulted or harassed them many years ago. The same three planned to approach Bill Clinton on his way into the debate arena.
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who represents Trump in debate negotiations, said of the publicity stunt:
“We were going to put the four women in the VIP box; we had it all set. We wanted to have them shake hands with Bill, to see if Bill would shake hands with them.”
Why Did They Call Off It Off?
The stunt was called off by Frank J. Fahrenkopf, the debate commission’s co-chairman and a former Republican National Committee chairman. Fahrenkopf told Trump to remove the women before the debate started, or he would instruct security to do it.
According to Guiliani:
“Fahrenkopf said ‘no – verbally said ‘no’, that ‘security would throw them out,'”
Despite moving the women, Guiliani said that Bannon kept pushing to have the women come out until three minutes before the debate started.
Clinton Was Also Denied A Guest
Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) was denied seating in the Clinton family box. She would have joined Bill and Chelsea Clinton, and Chelsea’s husband Marc Mezvinsky.
It is not known why.
The following video involves a press conference with the Clinton accusers. It appears to be a very scripted performance which was held by Trump after the debate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1L9HC1ukpc
Featured image from YouTube video.
