White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow defended Herman Cain, President Trump’s pick for the Federal Reserve board of governors, downplaying years-old allegations of sexual misconduct against the businessman.
“Lord knows, in this town, I come here to work in the White House every 35 years. It’s very toxic here. More than I’ve ever seen,” Kudlow said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
Cain has denied multiple allegations of sexual assault that emerged in 2011 during his 2012 presidential campaign.
During the interview, CNN showed a clip of Chicago woman Sharon Bialek saying that in the mid-1990s, Cain sexually harassed her while she was looking for a job. “He put his hand on my leg, under my skirt and reached for my genitals. He also grabbed my head and pulled it towards his crotch,” Bialek said in a 2011 press conference.
“There’s big disputes here. Mr. Cain disagrees with this point of view. I’m not going to litigate that here,” Kudlow said.
CNN host Jake Tapper noted there have not been multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against himself or Kudlow. In response, Kuldow said, “That’s true. We’re on the road to heaven. No question about it.”
“We’ve seen — whether it’s Supreme Court justices or many other things — we’ve seen a lot of charges here. They don’t necessarily pan out,” Kudlow said.
Trump’s last nomination for the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, also faced allegations of sexual misconduct during his confirmation hearing process last year before he was confirmed.
Earlier in the interview, Kudlow highlighted Cain’s experience.
“Besides being a very successful entrepreneurial businessman, he was a board member of the Kansas City Federal Reserve and actually was the chairman of the board of the Kansas City federal reserve. His time there spans I think about a decade. He’s intimately acquainted with federal reserve operations and policy issues,” Kudlow said.
