Donald Trump defended Roger Ailes and called him a “very, very good person” during a new interview, less than three weeks after Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the former Fox News CEO.
The Republican presidential nominee, 70, sat down with NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, July 24, where he declined to confirm reports that Ailes, 76, was advising his election campaign. “A lot of people are thinking he’s going to run my campaign,” he acknowledged.
“But he’s been a friend of mine for a long time,” Trump explained. “And I can tell you that some of the women that are complaining, I know how much he’s helped them. And even recently. And when they write books that are fairly recently released, and they say wonderful things about him. And now all of a sudden, they’re saying these horrible things about him.”
The former Celebrity Apprentice host continued, “It’s very sad. Because he’s a very good person. I’ve always found him to be just a very, very good person. And by the way, a very, very talented person. Look what he’s done. So I feel very badly.”
As Us Weekly previously reported, Carlson, 50, filed a suit against Ailes on July 6 for allegedly sabotaging her career after she rejected his sexual advances. The Fox News chairman, who resigned from his position on July 21 amid the allegations, has slammed Carlson’s claims as “retaliatory” and “false.”
Since the Fox & Friends alum filed her lawsuit, more than two dozen female Fox News employees — including Trump’s nemesis, political commentator Megyn Kelly — have come forward with sexual harassment allegations against Ailes, according to New York Magazine journalist Gabriel Sherman.
