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Donald Trump Jr. has come to the defence of British comedian Russell Brand following his conviction for rape and sexual assault, suggesting he was targeted because of his Christian faith and support for conservative politics.
The US President’s eldest son made the comments during an episode of his Triggered show on Tuesday, November 10, questioning the circumstances surrounding Brand’s prosecution and the length of his prison sentence.
Brand, 51, was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison on Monday, November 9, after a jury found him guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving four women.
Trump Jr. claimed the evidence used for the verdict was not legitimate and suggested Brand was being punished because of his Christian faith and conservative politics.
‘He was convicted, by the way, with no forensic evidence, no DNA, no police report at the time, now decades old, to allegations dating back to 1999,’ Trump Jr said.
‘So when he was married to Katy Perry, he was one of the most famous actors in the world, no one seemed to have a problem, no one seemed to think he was a rapist then,’ he added.
He also finished his remarks by questioning why Brand’s sentence ran longer than those handed to men convicted in Britain’s grooming gang cases.
Brand’s rape conviction concerns a 21-year-old fan he met backstage at a West London comedy show in 2009 and sexually assaulted at his home, roughly a year before he married Perry.
Judge Joel Bennathan told Brand he had shown a ‘casual and arrogant disregard’ for women and had become a sexual predator as his fame grew.
The judge also told him his testimony denying he ever touched a woman sexually without consent was one of a series of lies.
