Obama on Bill Cosby Allegations: If You Drug a Woman and Have Sex With Her, It’s Rape

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On Wednesday, President Obama responded to a question about Bill Cosby’s ongoing rape allegations, specifically as to whether the comedian’s Medal of Freedom award would be revoked.

“There is no precedent for revoking a medal. We don’t have that mechanism. And as you know I tend not to comment on the specifics of cases where there might still be, if not criminal, civil issues involved,” he said.

But after a brief pause, and without specifically naming Cosby, Obama issued a strong condemnation of the allegations.

“If you give a woman or a man without his or her knowledge a drug and then have sex with that person without consent that’s rape. And I think this country and any civilized country should have no tolerance for rape.”

Last week, a judge unsealed documents from a 2005 legal deposition in which Cosby admitted to giving Quaaludes to a woman and then having sex with her.