Fox Business host savaged for claiming "there are no allegations against" Trump

Maria Bartiromo said comparing Al Franken's accusations to Trump is "apples to oranges" and "not the same at all"

By Charlie May

Published November 18, 2017 4:41PM (EST)

Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo made the claim on Friday that "there are no allegations" against President Donald Trump, despite him facing accusations from at least 16 women who all have said he sexually harassed them, or engaged in inappropriate conduct.

In a panel discussion Bartiromo and her guests were ripping into Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., who was accused of groping and forcing a kiss on radio host Leeann Tweeded during a USO tour in 2006.

Bartiromo then asked one of her guests, Christopher Lu, the former assistant to President Obama, whether or not he agreed with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who recently said that former President Bill Clinton should have resigned when his inappropriate relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky surfaced.

Lu explained that Clinton would have likely been "seen under a different political lens" if it had come up in the current environment.

"We say that" different standards would be applied today for Clinton, Lu argued, but he also pointed out that the infamous Access Hollywood tape about President Donald Trump, and the allegations against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, have surfaced.

"You need to look at this all in a whole," Lu said. "How do you measure allegations with a photo versus allegations involving a yearbook? What are the standards when you're looking at a political election versus legal proceedings."

"What do you mean how do you differentiate?" Bartiromo shot back. "There's a picture [of Franken]."

Lu pointed out that there are several allegations against Moore and "probably an equal number that have made allegations against the president."

"So if they deny the allegations, yet you have other evidence and you have their testimony — I'm inclined to believe all of the womens' testimonies," Lu said.

"Just to be clear, there are no allegations against the president," Bartiromo claimed.

After Lu clarified that the allegations were from before he was elected president, Bartiromo argued, "He said during the campaign that wasn’t true. In fact, didn’t he say also that, you know, all of this will come to light and there will be a lawsuit? I mean… we’re talking about a situation where we have a picture with the guy’s hands on her breasts. You can’t compare the two, Chris."

Bartiromo insisted "it's not the same at all" and it's like comparing "apples to oranges."

After the segment CNN's Brian Stelter tweeted that what Bartiromo said was "really strange" considering numerous women have alleged Trump engaged in misconduct. Bartiromo then blocked Stelter on Twitter, according to screenshots he published.

 

 She also blocked Huffington Post journalist Yashar, who tweeted that the Fox Business host had "just erased sixteen women."    

It's not clear if her blocking spree continued, but she sure felt the wrath of the Twitter mob.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watch the full segment below:


By Charlie May

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