Paris Dennard Suspended From CNN After Sexual Harassment Allegations Surface

“Totally unglued and weird.”

President Donald Trump praised Paris Dennard — a conservative commentator who was fired from Arizona State University in 2014 for ​sexual harassment — as “wonderful.”

Trump ​tweeted the praise ​on Monday following a debate between Dennard — a ​CNN commentator and Trump-appointed member to the commission on ​White House fellowships — and former Intelligence Official Phillip Mudd, whom Trump called “totally unglued and weird.”

​According to The Washington Post, an internal investigation by ASU concluded that Dennard told a recent college graduate that he wanted to have sex with her and “pretended to unzip his pants in her presence, tried to get her to sit on his lap, and made masturbatory gestures.”

Additionally, Dennard touched one woman’s “neck with his tongue” and came up behind the woman “and whispered in her ear that he wanted to ‘f***’ her,” according to the report.

Dennard reportedly did not dispute the claims, and even admitted to many of them. However, he said that he “committed the acts jokingly,” according to The Post.

He was placed on administrative leave in 2014 and was “involuntarily separated” from his role as events director for ASU’s McCain Institute for International Leadership in early 2015, according to The Post.

This investigation by ASU had not previously been exposed, but following The Post’s report, CNN suspended Dennard while the organization reviews the allegations.

Dennard wrote in an email to The Post that he still believes the allegations to be false.

“This is sadly another politically motivated attempt to besmirch my character, and shame me into silence for my support of President Trump and the ​GOP,” Dennard said.

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Brian Edsall

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