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Donald Trump offered PR advice to Bill Cosby in 2014 over rape allegations

Mr Trump said Cosby should speak out and defend himself rather than stay silent

Tuesday 11 October 2016 10:28 BST

Donald Trump (Getty)

In 2014, Bill Cosby, once considered a US national treasure, was at the start of a rapid and dramatic fall from grace as more and more accusations of sexual assault came to light.

One man who thought the situation was “sad” and was quick to share his thoughts on how Cosby should handle the situation was the now Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

In a 2014 interview from the red carpet for an event he was attending with his wife Melania, the billionaire offered Mr Cosby some PR advice, encouraging him to defend himself against the multiple sexual assault allegations instead of remaining silent.

What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate?

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1/8What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate?

What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate?

On the leaked tape from 2005 where he talks about sexually assaulting women

“I'm very embarrassed by it, I hate it, but it's locker room talk. It's one of those things. I will knock the hell out of Isis”

Getty

What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate?

On Hillary Clinton

“I hate to say it but if I win I'm going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. There has never been so many lies, so much deception. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”

Rex

What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate?

On Bill Clinton

“What he's done to women, there's never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation that's been so abusive to women.”

AP

What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate?

On whether his alleged opposition to Iraq War had been disproven

"It’s not debunked. It’s not debunked."

Getty

What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate?

On exploiting tax loopholes

"I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett, and so did George Soros and so did many people who Hillary is getting money from."

Getty

What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate?

On claims he's sexist

“I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do.”

Reuters

What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate?

On what he respects about Hillary Clinton

“I will say this about Hillary - she doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. I tell it like it is. She's a fighter.”

Reuters

What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate?

On his controversial immigration policies

"It’s called extreme vetting. We’re going to areas like Syria, where they are coming in by the tens of thousands because of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton wanting to allow a 550 per cent increase [of refugees] over Obama. People are coming into this country. We have no idea who they are, where they are from and what their feelings are about this country."

Getty

“I think it’s very sad and frankly I don’t think he’s handling it well,” the 70-year-old told E! News. “He should say something because he’s being accused of terrible things and to have absolutely no comment, I think he’s getting very bad advice from a PR standpoint and he should do it differently. He’s not doing a very good job of handling it.”

Mr Trump’s advice is not wholly different to the mantra he appears to live by after the string of scandals which have hit his campaign over the last year. The real estate mogul is always quick to offer a response and/or defence to controversies, his most recent being a 2005 recording of him saying sexist and derogatory things about women and boasting that he was such a “star” he could grab women “by the p***y”.

Mr Trump has since apologised, saying he has said and done things he regrets while also dismissing the conversation as “locker room banter” and deflecting the apology statement back to Hillary Clinton.

Mr Cosby has denied all of the 50-plus historical sexual assault claims made against him. In December of last year, he was charged over just one of the allegations. The 79-year-old is accused of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand at his home in 2004, a trial date has been tentatively set for June 2017 in Pennsylvania.