On Friday's CNN This Morning, host Audie Cornish falsely claimed: “When you think of [Trump's] initial campaign, the grab them by the genitalia comment that came out, his point of view is not like, oh no, we need to back away from something.”
In other words, Cornish was saying that Trump didn't feel any need to apologize -- “back away" -- from “grab them.”
Except that, the morning after The Washington Post published the Access Hollywood tape, Trump issued a statement in which he said: “I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize.”
That is the definition of backing away.
Cornish made her false accusation while discussing Trump’s defense of Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy's ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. Cornish's theory was that it is not surprising Trump would defend the ad, given that, in her telling, he did not feel the need to back away when the Access Hollywood tape surfaced.
CNN’s Cornish Falsely Claims Trump Didn’t Feel Need to ‘Back Away’ From ‘Grab ’Em’ Remark pic.twitter.com/ERdJtaReb2
— Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) October 23, 2026
Responding to Cornish, Group Chat member Luke Thomas escalated, lazily calling Trump “the all-star of the Epstein files” and asking whether anyone was surprised that he “went to the mat to defend child rape.”
Thomas has quite the history of harsh criticism of Trump. On his “Luke Thomas Gets Political” channel, he has described Trump as “one of the greatest threats politically of my life” and “irredeemable.”
There is no public record of Trump ever defending child rape, let alone being charged with, convicted of, or found liable for child sexual abuse. The late Virginia Giuffre even asserted he was uninvolved in the misconduct she described.
In one segment, CNN airs two accusations against Trump: both false.
Here’s the transcript.
CNN This Morning
10/23/26
6:03 am EDTAUDIE CORNISH: The thing is, Trump would write out something like this [his defense of Vivek's ad], right? When you think of his initial campaign, the grab them by the genitalia comment that came out. His point of view is not like, like, oh no, we need to back away from something.
LUKE THOMAS: Well, I mean, this is also the all-star of the Epstein files. Are we surprised that he went to the mat to defend child rape? I mean, this is sort of who we have here.
