Juanita Broaddrick May Come Up At The Debate

One scandal was on the mind of the masses the weekend of the second presidential debate. As candidates were prepping for the event, set to take place at Washington University on Sunday night, media outlets were churning out stories about Republican nominee Donald Trump and the many damning comments he's made over the years. Audio footage of Trump making lewd comments and condoning sexual assault back in 2005 prompted leak after leak of offensive soundbites. Trump has apologized and appears to be going on the offensive. He held an impromptu press conference before the debate with women who allege that the Clintons had sexually assaulted them. One woman in particular has begun speaking out more and more vocally: Juanita Broaddrick. Who is Juanita Broaddrick? The retired nurse alleges she was raped by Bill Clinton nearly four decades ago, which the former president denies.

Trump's press conference lasted just three and a half minutes and the candidate refused to answer any questions from the media. Sitting in the middle of four women, Trump prompted them to make statements about why they were with him. All expressed support of Trump, including Broaddrick, who stated that "actions speak louder than words. Mr. trump may have said some bad words but Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me. I don't think there's any comparison."

The allegations Broaddrick has made stem from an April 1978 incident in Little Rock, Arkansas. Broaddrick, who's from Van Buren, Arkansas, was just over 150 miles from home at the state capital for a nursing home conference. Prior to retirement, she owned a well-regarded nursing home that she claimed Bill had visited when he was campaigning for governor that same year. Broaddrick claims she had expressed interest in volunteering for his campaign and Bill agreed to meet her at his campaign office in Little Rock. The location of their meeting then changed to her hotel's coffee shop, she says, where seminars were being held for the nursing home conference.

Broaddrick has claimed that Clinton changed the location to a hotel room, where he allegedly assaulted her. "There was no remorse. He acted like it was an everyday occurrence," Broaddrick alleged to BuzzFeed News in August. "He was not the least bit apologetic. It was just unreal."

Broaddrick never sought legal action against Bill and claims she was never silenced by the Clintons, whose legal team issued this statement following her Dateline appearance in 1999: "Any allegation that the president assaulted Juanita Broaddrick more than 20 years ago is absolutely false."

Broaddrick first came forward with her allegations in a 1999 Dateline interview. Most recently, she spoke out in an interview with Brietbart, which was released on Sunday.

Hillary for America Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri issued a statement about the pre-debate press conference that Trump held, calling the incident a "destructive race to the bottom." "Hillary Clinton understands the opportunity in this town hall is to talk to voters on stage and in the audience about the issues that matter to them, and this stunt doesn’t change that," Palmieri stated. "If Donald Trump doesn’t see that, that’s his loss. As always, she’s prepared to handle whatever Donald Trump throws her way."

It's unclear if Broaddrick's allegations or any others against the Clintons will be brought up during the debate. The first question of the debate will reportedly be about the Trump tape. One thing is certain: Broaddrick is willing to speak out as often as she can, especially if it benefits Trump. She has been an avid supporter of the Donald on Twitter, where she also speaks at length about the 1978 incident.