WH: Trump treats women with ‘highest level of respect’

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday defended President Trump’s treatment of women after Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) took a parting shot at the president in his resignation speech.

“I think that the president treats, certainly as a woman myself, I’ve never felt treated with anything but the highest level of respect and been empowered to do my job and that’s what I’ve seen the president do day in and day out since I’ve been here and during the campaign,” Sanders  told reporters at a press briefing.

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The press secretary added that White House staff has been reminded of policies that are in place to ensure everyone is treated respectfully.

“There’s certainly White House policies we are reminded of and all of us expect each of us to respect those policies and to not cross a line that is not only not legal but not appropriate and not ethical,” she said.

Franken announced Thursday that he would resign after a cascade of accusations of sexual misconduct against him provoked his Democratic colleagues in the Senate to demand he step aside.

In his speech from the Senate floor, Franken denied some of the charges against him and bemoaned the “irony” that he is resigning while the president has “bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault” yet remains in office.

Franken was referring to the “Access Hollywood” tape that surfaced during the 2016 presidential campaign, in which Trump is heard boasting about how he can grab women and take advantage of them because of his wealth and celebrity.

Trump later apologized for the remarks and described them as “locker room” talk.

The White House declined to comment on Franken’s criticism, saying the president has adequately addressed the controversy.

“The president addressed the comments back during the campaign,” Sanders said. “We feel strongly that the people of this country also addressed that when they elected Donald Trump to be president, and I’ve addressed it several times from here and don’t have anything new to add.”

Sanders was pressed on Trump’s support for Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, who has been accused of having a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl and of having romantic relationships with teenagers when he was a district attorney.

“We think the allegations are troubling and ultimately this is something the people of Alabama will decide,” Sanders said.

The White House press secretary dodged when asked if there was a difference in the way Republicans and Democrats are treating those within their parties who are accused of sexual harassment.

“I think … that would be left to the party leadership,” she said, arguing that there is “no reason at this point” to believe that Congress can’t self-police themselves when it comes to charges of sexual harassment against its members.