Donald Trump holds press event with women who accused Bill Clinton of sexual misdeeds, by AP.

In a sensational move, Donald Trump has held a meeting with several women who have accused Bill Clinton of rape and other unwanted sexual advances.

The event, in front of media and broadcast live, was held just an hour before the second presidential candidate debate with Clinton’s wife, Hillary.

It’s the clearest sign yet that he plans to use Bill Clinton’s extramarital affairs to try to distract from the swirling controversy over his own predatory remarks about women.

He has to. The Democrats and media are making much of lewd remarks he made, which is just alpha male boasting and in my opinion not a big deal. Competitive males talking dirty and exaggerating — it not exactly rare or, in and of itself, harmful.

Yet compared to the transgressions of Hillary, they are nothing: enabling multiple rapes (by her husband, almost certainly), abuse of interns and staff women (again, by Bill but covered up by Hillary), possibly tens of murders (there are many allegations and suspicious circumstances), corruption (selling US interests for donations to the Clinton Foundation), not securing national secrets (the FBI let her off for no good reason), endless lies,…

Clinton is in a whole different league from the smut of Trump. There are no women complaining about Trump, but there is a long line of women complaining publicly that Clinton raped or abused them.

The strategy for the Democrats is to steer the conversation away from immigration and terrorism. If the national conversation in the media focuses on them, Trump will win. But of course, as has become painfully obvious to all but the most partisan or unaware, the media are Democrats operatives with bylines.

hat-tip Matthew