Former FBI Director James Comey says he believes that President Donald Trump “treats women like they’re pieces of meat” as part of his larger critique of the commander in chief as morally unfit for the office.
“A person who sees moral equivalence in Charlottesville, who talks about and treats women like they’re pieces of meat, who lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people believe it, that person’s not fit to be President of the United States, on moral grounds,” Comey told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview that aired Sunday evening.
Comey did not provide further explanation or examples to back up his claim, and Stephanopoulos did not press him about it. Trump and the White House have assailed Comey’s credibility leading up to the release of his book, with the President calling him a “slimeball” and a “proven leaker and liar” on Twitter.
Trump has been accused of mistreating and disrespecting women throughout his public life. He’s faced allegations by women who say they were groped, fondled and forcibly kissed by the businessman-turned-politician, though Trump has vociferously denied the allegations.
Additionally, Trump apologized after the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape surfaced, in which he is heard discussing women in vulgar terms during off-camera banter, including being able to “grab them by the p****.” First lady Melania Trump dismissed her husband’s comments in the tape as “boy talk,” though she also said the language was “not acceptable.”
In 2016, “Miss Universe” winner Alicia Machado said she gained 15 pounds and that Trump called her “Miss Housekeeping,” because she is Latina, and “Miss Piggy.” Trump admitted that he pushed her to lose weight, telling “Fox and Friends” in an interview that Machado had “gained a massive amount of weight and it was a real problem.”
Trump’s daughter and White House adviser Ivanka Trump has championed her father as someone who “is colorblind and gender-neutral.” She also said earlier this year that she thought it was “pretty inappropriate” to be asked about the women who have accused her father of sexual misconduct.
CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, Dan Merica and Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.