Maybe It WAS an April Fool's Joke

“I think he shouldn’t have settled; personally, I think he shouldn’t have settled.  Because you should have taken it all the way. I don’t think Bill did anything wrong.”

-- Donald Trump defending Bill O'Reilly, who settled numerous sexual harassment suits for $13 million

One wonders if Trump is aware that he had JUST proclaimed April to be Sexual Assault Awareness Month. And if he does remember having done that, one also wonders precisely what part of naming it Sexual Assault Awareness Month wasn't clear???

But it goes farther than this gut-wrenching tone-deafness.  Trumps has absolutely NO IDEA if Bill O'Reilly is guilty of all the charges.  For all he knows, settling was the smartest thing to do.  A jury might have found him guilty, even if there was a fine-line question of guilt.  It also could have kept the negotiated payment much smaller than a jury trial might have awarded.  Settling also keeps Bill O'Reilly off the stand and not having to testify under oath, which not only could have been deeply embarrassing, but could have opened the door to other as yet unreported sexual harassment activities.  In fact, even if -- for some reason -- he was not guilty of these specific charges, he might have been guilty of others and worse, and settling keeps all that hidden.  So, Trump chiming in here, about something he doesn't know, about this particular topic at this particular time of all times, when he's just proclaimed it Sexual Assault Awareness Month is just totally clueless.

On the other hand, there is one thing that I do know for sure -- there goes his Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai sponsorship tie-ins with Trump Tower...