Officials demur on Trump claims

Ryan, Walker say they don’t know enough about sexual misconduct allegations

MADISON – Two of Wisconsin’s top Republicans demurred Friday on whether they believe women accusing President Donald Trump of inappropriately touching them.

Gov. Scott Walker said he didn’t know enough about accusations against Trump to know whether they were true, while House Speaker Paul Ryan said he did not know whether the claims against Trump were similar to ones against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.

Both Walker and Ryan have said they believe Moore’s accusers and want him to drop out of his race. Moore’s accusers have said he assaulted or pursued them decades ago when they were teens and he was in his 30s.

But when it comes to Trump, Walker and Ryan in separate interviews said they didn’t know enough about the claims against him.

“I haven’t seen most of the things that have been reported (about the accusations against Trump),” Walker told reporters after lighting the Christmas tree at the state Capitol.

Asked why he would comment on Moore but not Trump, Walker said: “That’s what’s before us right now. It was a question that was explicitly asked about a campaign that is happening right now. That (presidential) campaign’s over. I don’t have a role in … something that’s already been determined by the voters here and across the nation last year.”

In an interview with National Public Radio, Ryan said Moore should get out of the Senate race because “I believe those allegations are credible.” He stumbled over his words when asked how the accusations against Moore differ from those against Trump.

“I think the Roy Moore — I don’t know if — I’m focused on Congress,” Ryan said. “Roy Moore is trying to come to Congress. My job here as speaker of the House is to help make sure that Congress is an institution that we’re proud of, and that’s what I’m focused on.”

Asked the difference between the two situations, Ryan said: “I don’t know the answer to that. I haven’t spent my time reviewing the difference in these two cases.”

Martha Laning, chairwoman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, said the comments from Ryan and Walker were callous and “a punch in the gut” to women who have reported being harassed or assaulted.

“The cold, indifferent comments from Speaker Paul Ryan and Gov. Scott Walker, as they make the choice to blindly ignore President Donald Trump’s admitted sexual misconduct, illustrate that they lack the compassion necessary to fairly govern our state and country,” she said in a statement.

At least 13 women have accused Trump of inappropriately touching them, according to the Washington Post. Among them is a woman who was writing an article for People who said Trump lured her into a room in 2005, forced her against a wall and kissed her.

Another said Trump that year kissed her on the lips after she introduced herself. A third said Trump in the early 1990s slipped his fingers under her miniskirt and touched her genitals over her underwear, according to the Post.

Walker said he hadn’t read many of the details about women who have accused Trump of groping them. He indicated he had seen the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape that was released just before the election in which Trump bragged about grabbing women’s genitals, but did not know the specifics about other incidents.

“I haven’t looked at that,” Walker said.