Senator Bernie Sanders found himself in an awkward situation regarding allegations of sexual assault against Virginia’s Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax. To escape, Sanders appeared to fake a phone call only to be caught out on video.
Fairfax denies the allegations of sexual assault at the 2004 Democratic National Convention made by associate professor of politics at Scripps College Vanessa Tyson. As the allegations emerged in the media he said that “appropriate legal action against those attempting to spread this defamatory and false allegation” was being taken.
When Daily Caller congressional reporter Henry Rodgers encountered Sanders in the lobby, he pressed the Virginia Senator on the issue, asking him “Do you believe Justin Fairfax’s accuser?” Sanders, through his administrative director Jacob Gillison dodges the question, telling Rodgers “He can’t right now. We’re discussing something right now.”
Just a short time later, Rodgers again encounters Sanders and asks again whether he believes Tyson, to which Sanders responds, “Excuse me! Stop following me around,” while claiming to be on an active call. However, Sanders brings the phone away from his ear showing he was not, in fact, on active call as he had claimed.
“You’re not on the phone,” exclaims Rodgers, “I’m asking you a question.”
Tyson has reportedly retained the services of Katz Marshall & Banks who represented Christine Blasey Ford who accused then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. Sanders was among her most vocal supporters in the Senate.
Sanders also apologized on January 10 following claims of alleged mistreatment and harassment of female staffers who worked as part of his 2016 presidential campaign.
“When we talk about — and I do all the time — ending sexism and all forms of discrimination, those beliefs cannot just be words. They must be based in day-to-day reality and the work we do, and that was clearly not the case in the 2016 campaign.”
For the time being, the Virginia Democratic party has not officially made a decision on the fate of the Lieutenant Governor.
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