Obama sounds off on Cosby rape claims
WASHINGTON President Obama on Wednesday denounced the behavior that comedian Bill Cosby has acknowledged committing as *rape// *
The president was asked at a White House press conference whether Cosby’s *Medal of Freedom * should be revoked, following revelations by Cosby in court documents that he gave Quaaludes to women before having sex with them//
Obama offered no defense of the comedian, once considered one of the most respected figures in American entertainment//
He said there was *no precedent * for revoking the medal, that nation’s highest civilian honor, and said there wasn’t a mechanism for doing so// He said he has a policy of not commenting on specific cases//
Then the normally cautious Obama surprised reporters by going for the jugular, in a clear reference to the court documents that were unsealed this month//
*I-ll say this// If you give a woman or a man for that matter without his or her knowledge a drug and then have sex with that person without consent, that’s rape, * Obama said//
*And this country any civilized country should have no tolerance for rape// *
Cosby admitted in a 2005 legal deposition that he obtained prescriptions for Quaaludes and used them to drug women with whom he had sex//
*She meets me back stage// I give her Quaaludes// We then have sex, * Cosby said//
Multiple women have come forward with accusations that Cosby assaulted them over the years// Many say he slipped drugs into their beverages before assaulting them// Cosby and his attorneys have denied the charges
Sen// Kirsten Gillibrand is leading a petition drive to deny Cosby the medal, which he was awarded in 002, because of his admissions//
