Gillibrand: Trump should resign over sex misconduct allegations
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., listens during a news conference on sexual harassment, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Credit: AP / Jacquelyn Martin
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Monday called on President Donald Trump to resign over allegations of sexual misconduct.
Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), in a CNN interview, said the claims against the Republican president — which surfaced during the 2016 campaign — were “credible,” “numerous” and “heartbreaking.” If Trump doesn’t resign, Congress should investigate the claims, the senator said.
“President Trump has committed assault, according to these women, and those are very credible allegations of misconduct and criminal activity, and he should be fully investigated and he should resign,” Gillibrand told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “Whether he ever will hold himself accountable is something, you know, you can’t really hold your breath for. So Congress should have . . . appropriate investigations of his behavior and hold him accountable.”
More than a dozen women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct. Three of them appeared on NBC’s Megyn Kelly Today” Monday to discuss the allegations; afterward, they asked Congress to investigate.
Trump Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders reiterated Monday that the White House’s position is that the women accusing the president are lying.
“These false claims, totally disputed in most cases by eyewitness acco unts, were addressed at length during last year’s campaign, and the American people voiced their judgment by delivering a decisive victory,” the White House said in a statement reported by multiple news outlets.
Gillibrand is the latest to call for Trump to resign, following Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.). Further, Gillibrand’s remarks came one day after Trump’s appointee to the United Nations, Ambassador Nikki Haley, said the women accusing Trump “should be heard.”
“Women who accuse anyone should be heard,” Haley said on CBS’ Face the Nation.
“I think the point she’s making is this very powerful moment in America’s history,” Gillibrand said of Haley’s remarks.
In the wake of scandals that began with Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein and, most recently, triggered the resignations of U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), women are no longer staying silent, Gillibrand said.
