In a TV interview, Blake Farenthold of Texas said he would ‘consider’ still endorsing Donald Trump if the nominee was heard bragging about rape

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A Texas congressman said in a TV interview that he would consider continuing to support Donald Trump even if the Republican presidential nominee said “I really like to rape women”.

During a tense exchange with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Tuesday, Blake Farenthold, a Trump supporter, did not commit to revoking his endorsement in a hypothetical scenario in which the real estate mogul was recorded bragging about rape.

Shortly after the clip spread on social media, the Texas lawmaker apologized on Twitter, saying: “I do not, and have not ever condoned rape or violence against women. That is not the kind of man I believe Donald Trump to be.”

The controversy comes days after a leaked video showed Trump boasting about groping women and kissing them without their consent, saying, “Grab them by the pussy” and “When you’re a star they let you do it.”

Dozens of elected Republicans have announced that they are no longer supporting Trump in light of the comments, and Hayes pressed Farenthold on his decision to continue backing the campaign.

Referencing Trump’s apology and attempt to dismiss the comments as “locker room talk”, Hayes asked if the comment “I really like to rape women” could be brushed aside in a similar manner.

“It depends, said Farenthold, stumbling in his response. “You don’t know the entire context of all this. But I’m not here to defend Donald Trump. I don’t like what he said.”

All In w/Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) .@farenthold on if he'd revoke support for Trump if he said "I like raping women" -- "It'd be bad...I'd consider it" https://t.co/jWCZ1YERYl

Asked again about a hypothetical situation in which Trump celebrates rape, the congressman said, “That would be bad and I would have to consider it. But again, we’re talking about what Donald Trump said 10 years ago as opposed to what Hillary Clinton has done in the past two or three years.”

Earlier in the conversation, he defended Trump by claiming that the 2005 recording was a “private conversation that was off the record”.



The leaked video came from an Access Hollywood shoot when Trump was caught on a live microphone.

In his apology tweets, Farenthold said “I was thrown off by the anchor’s use of a hypothetical question”, adding: “I apologize for my failure to immediately condemn anyone who would say something as outrageous as they like raping women.”

Blake Farenthold (@farenthold) I do not, and have not ever condoned rape or violence against women. That is not the kind of man I believe Donald Trump to be. (3/3)

In a statement shared with the Guardian on Tuesday night, Farenthold added, “I was unprepared for the outrageous and hypothetical question … This was clearly an attempt by the media to paint Donald Trump and Republicans in as bad of light as possible.”

Farenthold has previously faced his own accusations of sexual misconduct. Lauren Greene, his former communications director, filed a lawsuit in 2014 alleging that the congressman “regularly drank to excess” and told his assistant that he had “sexual fantasies” and “wet dreams” about Greene. Farenthold denied the accusations and the case was eventually settled out of court.

Republicans who have stuck by Trump have faced widespread backlash for their responses to questions about the candidate’s sexual assault remarks. Some campaign officials and top spokespeople for the party have claimed that grabbing women’s genitals would not constitute sexual assault.

At the debate on Sunday, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper told Trump: “You described kissing women without consent, grabbing their genitals. That is sexual assault. You bragged that you have sexually assaulted women. Do you understand that?”

“No,” the candidate replied. “I didn’t say that at all.”

After the footage was leaked, thousands of women shared stories of sexual assault on Twitter and some have expressed outrage with the hashtag #PussyGrabsBack.