Doug Emhoff does not deny he struck ex-girlfriend while brushing off report as a ‘distraction’ in response to allegations

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff did not deny allegations that he “forcefully” struck an ex-girlfriend more than a decade ago following a booze-filled evening in France, instead calling the claim a “distraction.”

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough asked Emhoff to respond to several “tabloid stories about your personal life,” in apparent reference to accusations from Daily Mail sources that he slapped his former flame and hiring a “trophy secretary” at his high-powered Los Angeles law firm.

“We don’t have time to be pissed off,” Emoff said in response. “We don’t have time to focus on it. It’s all a distraction. It’s designed to try to get us off our game.”

Scarborough said former President Donald Trump was needlessly amplifying the stories, while making “incredibly crude and lewd” suggestions about Vice President Kamala Harris’ past.