Megyn Kelly explains why Donald Trump can't discredit new female sex-assault accusers

Megyn Kelly explains why sex assault victims don't come forward
(Image credit: Fox News/YouTube)

On Wednesday's Kelly File, Megyn Kelly laid out the alleged sexual harassment case against Donald Trump like the lawyer she used to be. First, she played the 2005 video of Trump saying he likes to kiss and grope women without consent, then the part of Sunday's debate where Trump denies actually groping or kissing women without their consent, and finally video of a woman saying Trump groped her on an airplane, one of three female accusers who came forward Wednesday with stories of allegedly being kissed or fondled by Trump. Later, she showed footage of an interview Wednesday in which a former Miss Teen USA contestant discussed Trump watching her and other teenage girls change clothes in the dressing room, plus Trump telling Howard Stern that he actually does stuff like that.

Fox News political analyst Chris Stierwalt told Kelly that the Trump camp knew these accusations were coming, and that this explains Trump's "bellicose attitude" at the debate, but fellow guest Dana Perino wasn't so sure. The Trump campaign is "expecting now for everybody that will be seeing these interviews with these women to not believe them," she said, "and one of the things they say in their statement is, How dare you reach back decades and look at possible sexual assaults from way before, like, how could it matter? But the problem is, that's exactly what they are asking people to do when they look at Bill Clinton."

Trump's "angry denial" suggests he wasn't prepared for this, Perino added. "I don't want to go psychological on you," Kelly agreed, "but they say anger is closely related to fear." Kelly noted that in these situations, it's hard to know who to believe, and the new allegations against Trump also put Hillary Clinton's camp "in a pickle," because Team Clinton is arguing that Bill Clinton's decades-old accusers never proved their allegations in court. "The truth is that victims of sexual assault, victims of rape, victims of unwanted groping, they often don't come forward," Kelly said. "They're humiliated. Especially back in the day, they were told, 'Move along, it happens to all women, you gotta take it.' It's a complicated situation." "Because it would hurt your career," Perino said. "That's right," Kelly said. Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.