willful ignorance?
Paul Ryan 'doesn't know' if there's a difference between Roy Moore and Donald Trump
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told NPR's Steve Inskeep in an interview Friday that allegations of sexual misconduct against Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore were "very, very credible," but said that he didn't know if there was a difference between those allegations and the allegations of sexual assault made against President Trump. "I haven't spent my time reviewing the difference in these two cases," Ryan said.
A number of women have accused Moore of initiating inappropriate sexual relationships with them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. After the first women came forward, Ryan called the allegations "disqualifying if true," but when more women followed, he called on Moore to "step aside."
More than 15 allegations of sexual assault and harassment have been made against Trump. In October of 2016, Ryan said he was "sickened" by the Access Hollywood audio recording of Trump bragging about groping women without their consent. "I hope Mr. Trump … works to demonstrate to the country that he has greater respect for women than this clip suggests," Ryan said. He did not, however, call for then-candidate Trump to step aside, and instead offered his tepid support.