Had a plan devised by Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign chief executive Stephen Bannon gone through, four women who have accused former President Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct would have been seated in Trump's family box during Sunday night's presidential debate.
The Washington Post spoke with four people involved with discussions for the scheme, who said it was thought up by Bannon and Ivanka Trump's husband, with the personal approval of Donald Trump. Many of Trump's top aides were unaware of the setup, but officials from the Commission on Presidential Debates found out before the debate started and put the kibosh on it, warning that if Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey, and Kathy Shelton sat in the box, security would remove them. "We had it all set," Trump surrogate and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani told the Post. "We wanted to have them shake hands with Bill, to see if Bill would shake hands with them." Clinton has long denied the allegations made against him by the women.
Giuliani said Bannon only backed down three minutes before the debate started, and the women were seated in the general audience. One of the chairmen of the debate commission, former Republican National Committee chairman Frank J. Fahrenkopf, issued the warning to Trump's campaign, and after the debate, Giuliani complained about him, saying it was unfair that during the first debate, billionaire and Clinton surrogate Mark Cuban sat in the front row. "The women were outraged," Giuliani told the Post. "They were in the holding room and ready to go. No one was pushing them. They volunteered."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
September 14 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-warTalking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
