Nebraska gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster, who is accused of groping by multiple women, was defended by former U.S. President Donald Trump at a rally on Sunday.
Trump, who has faced more than a dozen sexual misconduct allegations and denied them, dismissed the recent allegations against Herbster as "malicious." He said that they were the main motivation for his decision to hold an event in the Cornhusker State ahead of the Grand Old Party (GOP) primary on May 10, reported CNN.
Talking about Herbster, Trump said that he's been "badly maligned and it's a shame. That's why I came out here." He added that it would have been easy for him to say, "I'm not gonna come." He noted that he defends his people when he knows "they're good."
The rally in Greenwood, Nebraska was scheduled for Friday, but was delayed because of severe weather in the area, according to Fox News.
Trump's defense came just days after it was reported that seven women, including Republican state Senator Julie Slama, had accused Herbster of groping them. The incidents allegedly took place at political events or beauty pageants. One woman even accused him of kissing her forcibly.
Denying the allegations, Herbster said that they were "100% false." He went on to file a lawsuit Friday against Slama, and claimed to have suffered "grievous harm to his reputation" from her accusation. She had claimed that Herbster reached up her skirt during a fundraising dinner in 2019.
At the Sunday rally, Trump claimed to have met several friends of Herbster who defended him. He said that Herbster will "never bend to the media or the radical left," and that's why they're doing "everything they can to stop him." This includes "malicious charges to derail him long enough that the election can go by before the proper defense can be put forward." Trump shared that Herbster already has the proper defense, and called the Nebraska gubernatorial candidate "a fine man."
Meanwhile, a second woman has publicly accused Herbster of sexual misconduct, reported The Hill. In a statement, Elizabeth Todsen alleged that she had been sexually groped by him in 2019. She shared that it happened at a political event in 2019. He "sexually groped me while greeting my table," she said, and claimed that this was the same night that Herbster aggressively grabbed Slama.
Todsen’s allegations were a part of a “smear attack” against Herbster, his campaign claimed. He has denied the accusations.
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