--- title: Trump Uses a Familiar Line While Defending Robert Kraft description: President Trump defended Robert Kraft after news his longtime friend faces charges of soliciting a prostitute in a way he's defended others. canonical: https://time.com/5535806/trump-defends-robert-kraft/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-22T22:01:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T22:50:39.364Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Uses Familiar Line While Defending Patriots Owner Robert Kraft og:description: Trump used similar language while defending Rob Porter and Roy Moore og:url: https://time.com/5535806/trump-defends-robert-kraft/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e13f9bc109e79d1/698945b2929fad6ec2bf2c23/trump-kraft-comments-sexual-assault-allegations.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4462 og:image:height: 2510 og:image:alt: trump-kraft-comments-sexual-assault-allegations og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Uses Familiar Line While Defending Patriots Owner Robert Kraft twitter:description: Trump used similar language while defending Rob Porter and Roy Moore twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e13f9bc109e79d1/698945b2929fad6ec2bf2c23/trump-kraft-comments-sexual-assault-allegations.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # ‘He’s Proclaimed His Innocence.’ Trump Uses Familiar Line on Patriots Owner Robert Kraft > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=a7fb6b5e-0874-4e4b-a567-fd6a301233a1&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Feb 22, 2019 10:01 PM UTC  President Donald Trump shakes hands with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on April 19, 2017, where the president honored the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots for their Super Bowl LI victory. President Donald Trump shakes hands with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on April 19, 2017, where the president honored the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots for their Super Bowl LI victory. Susan Walsh—AP by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Feb 22, 2019 10:01 PM UTC Repeating a line he’s used before, President Donald Trump responded to a question about [the charges against New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft](http://time.com/5535631/robert-kraft-charged-prostitution/) by noting that his [longtime friend](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-explains-why-hes-good-friends-with-donald-trump/) had denied the accusations against him. “Well, that’s very sad. I was very surprised to see it. He’s proclaimed his innocence totally and — but I’m very surprised to see it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Friday, just hours after authorities announced Kraft faces charges of soliciting a prostitute, alleging that he was videotaped twice receiving a sex act at a Florida massage parlor. Kraft is a [frequent guest at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago](https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20190222/robert-kraft-his-team-is-in-new-england-but-hes-palm-beach-fixture) estate in Palm Beach. Trump has [previously used similar language](http://time.com/5139760/rob-porter-donald-trump-domestic-violence/) when asked about men accused of sexual misbehavior. When two of then-White House staffer Rob Porter’s ex-wives alleged domestic violence, a White House spokeswoman called the allegations “simply false” and a “smear campaign.” “We wish him well,” Trump told reporters after Porter resigned. “As you probably know, he says he is innocent and I think you have to remember that.” When Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore faced accusations of improper sexual behavior with teenaged girls, a White House spokeswoman argued one charge was a “mere allegation.” “Well, he denies it,” Trump told reporters. “Look, he denies it. If you look at what is really going on and you look at all the things that have happened over the last 48 hours, he totally denies it. He says it didn’t happen. And, you know, you have to listen to him, also. He said 40 years ago, this did not happen.” Trump himself faced accusations of sexual misconduct from [at least 18 women](http://time.com/5058646/donald-trump-accusers/) on the campaign trail, which he also denied, calling the women [“horrible, horrible liars”](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/10/13/trump-launches-deeply-personal-attacks-against-women-accusers-calling-them-horrible-horrible-liars/?utm%5Fterm=.cb2f6ae89c5f) and promising to sue them after the election. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5535806/trump-defends-robert-kraft/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5535806/trump-defends-robert-kraft/"},"headline":"‘He’s Proclaimed His Innocence.’ Trump Uses Familiar Line on Patriots Owner Robert Kraft","datePublished":"2019-02-22T22:01:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T22:50:39.364Z","description":"Trump used similar language while defending Rob Porter and Roy Moore","url":"https://time.com/5535806/trump-defends-robert-kraft/","keywords":["Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e13f9bc109e79d1/698945b2929fad6ec2bf2c23/trump-kraft-comments-sexual-assault-allegations.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e13f9bc109e79d1/698945b2929fad6ec2bf2c23/trump-kraft-comments-sexual-assault-allegations.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"trump-kraft-comments-sexual-assault-allegations","caption":"President Donald Trump shakes hands with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft","creditText":"Susan Walsh—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5535806/trump-defends-robert-kraft/","name":"‘He’s Proclaimed His Innocence.’ Trump Uses Familiar Line on Patriots Owner Robert Kraft"}}]}] ```