Former US President Donald Trump will attend a rally on Friday to support a candidate accused of sexually assaulting eight women, including a senator.
Billionaire rancher Charles Herbster, 67, has denied the allegations but is facing backlash from conservatives in Nebraska, where he is running for governor.
Senator Julie Slama told the Nebraska Examiner two weeks ago that Herbster had her hand up her skirt and harassed her during an incident in 2015. Seven other women also accuse him anonymously of sexual harassment.
“I don’t expect media attention or any other benefit. I wouldn’t lie and say it didn’t happen,” Slama, who was 22 at the time of the abuse, said in a statement.
Herbster, whose fortune comes in part from selling bull semen, has been described as a “special guest speaker” by the organizers of Trump’s “Save America” event at a racetrack outside of Omaha.
According to Politico, Trump was briefed on these allegations by his aides earlier this month, but the Republican leader has doubled down on the gamble and pressured Herbster to defend himself.
The rancher described the scandal as a “discrediting campaign” similar to attempts to attack Trump, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than two dozen women.
Trump, 75, has a long history of supporting public figures accused of misconduct, such as former White House aide Rob Porter, who was fired after being accused of assaulting his two ex-wives.
On May 10, three people are contesting the Republican nomination for governor of Nebraska: Herbster, billionaire pig farmer Jim Pillen, and Senator Brett Lindstrom.
Trump’s support for Herbster angered many of the influential Republican party in Nebraska, the state where the New York tycoon won 20 points in 2020.
source: Noticias
