(CNN) President Donald Trump got something of a softball from CBS News' Steven Portnoy at his press conference in New York Wednesday: What's your message to the young men of America?

It was a softball because the single most obvious message a President could issue to young men right now is to respect women.

But Trump went in a wildly different direction, arguing the US is in a dark period as women come forward to say they've been assaulted.

For context, this is the question Portnoy asked:

Portnoy: "About the hearing tomorrow, you were asked earlier by my friend from Sky News about the message that you are sending the women of the country. What about the message that you may be sending to young men? You're a father. What does this moment we're in, the cultural moment..."

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