Justin Fairfax May Run for Governor, Says Rape Allegations Against Him Raised His Profile

Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax is considering a run for governor despite multiple sexual assault allegations against him, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

Fairfax was accused of sexual assault by two women earlier this year but told the Times-Dispatch that he believes the allegations against him have raised his public profile.

“Many people a year ago would not have recognized me, now they really do,” Fairfax told the outlet. “People come up to me at gas stations, they say, ‘Hey, we recognize you. We love you. We know what they are saying about you is false.’ ”

Fairfax said a recent trip to London inspired him to consider higher office.

“Going on that trip and even leaving that trip, I was really inspired,” Fairfax said. “I’m very hopeful about the future. We’ve gotten a lot of encouragement about future political steps. I’m thinking very seriously about 2021.”

Two women say Fairfax sexually assaulted them:

In February, Meredith Watson claimed that Fairfax raped her in 2000 while they both attended Duke University.

Weeks later, Vanessa Tyson, a professor in California, alleged that Fairfax forced her to perform oral sex while they both attended the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.

Fairfax has denied the allegations and NBC News reported that he privately verbally attacked Tyson while speaking with state lawmakers.

GOP calls Fairfax “morally bankrupt”:

The Republican Governors Association, which backs a president accused of rape and sexual assault by well over a dozen women, including a well-known journalist who went public with her rape allegation against Trump this week, issued a statement condemning Fairfax’s comments.

“Just when we thought Virginia Democrats couldn’t go any lower, these disgusting statements by Justin Fairfax are proof of just how morally bankrupt Commonwealth Democrat leaders really are,” RGA spokeswoman Amelia Chassé Alcivar in a statement to The Hill. “Justin Fairfax’s comments are an insult to victims everywhere, and Democrats must either roundly condemn him or expose themselves as total hypocrites.”

The president has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than one dozen women. This week, columnist E. Jean Carrol alleged that Trump raped her in a dressing room in the mid-90s.

In her upcoming book, Carroll alleged that Trump followed her to the dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store, shoved her against the wall, and started pulling down her tights and “forcing his fingers around my private area, thrusts his penis halfway — or completely, I’m not certain — inside me.”

The president this week denied knowing Carroll, despite appearing in a photo with her, and later said he didn’t rape Carroll because “she’s not my type.”

 

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