Politics

‘I Will Let Bill Clinton Defend Himself’: Tammy Duckworth Dodges #METOO Allegations Against Bill Clinton

No featured image available

Democratic Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth dodged addressing allegations of sexual harassment against former President Bill Clinton Tuesday, saying: “I will let Bill Clinton defend himself.”

Duckworth spoke with Fox News’ Bret Baier Tuesday night ahead of Clinton’s scheduled DNC speech. Baier pushed Duckworth on whether Clinton should be speaking considering the plethora of sexual assault allegations against the former president as well as Clinton’s relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“I will let Bill Clinton defend himself and I will let Bill Clinton make his remarks tonight,” Duckworth responded. “What I can tell you, Brett, is that the Democratic Party is big tent, that everybody is welcome to come under who truly loves America and wants to work on things like fighting this pandemic, like putting money into our public schools so our kids can get back to school, like investing in small businesses, like investing in parts of the country that need help.”

“If you want to join Donald Trump, I believe he is often on the golf course,” she added.

Baier pushed Duckworth on the allegations against Clinton in the light of the #METOO movement. “He is a former president but in the wake of the #METOO movement does that change of perspective,” he asked her.

“Like I said, I will let Bill Clinton defend himself and I will be listening but I will tell you that we have a lot of work to do in this country,” Duckworth responded.

WATCH: 

The conversation comes after newly surfaced photographs surfaced Tuesday, published exclusively by the Daily Mail, depicting Clinton leaning back in an airport chair dressed in a yellow shirt and tan slacks, smiling and laughing as Chauntae Davies, an alleged victim of Jeffrey Epstein,  rubs his shoulders.

Davies told the Daily Mail that the photos were taken in September 2002 after Clinton fell asleep on Epstein’s plane, the Lolita Express, when Clinton and Epstein were traveling to Africa on a humanitarian trip.

Clinton was 56 at the time of the photos and Davies was 22, the publication reported. Davies has claimed that Epstein’s cohort Maxwell recruited her and that Epstein raped her several times, according to the Daily Mail.