US President Donald Trump has told reporters that it is a "difficult" and "scary" time for young men in the US.
Photo: AFP
Mr Trump's remarks came as he reiterated his support for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who is currently facing sexual misconduct allegations by several women.
A vote to confirm Mr Kavanaugh has been delayed as the FBI investigates the claims, which he denies.
Mr Trump said he believed the judge would be confirmed.
His appointment would be a major victory for Mr Trump's administration as it would tilt the country's top court in favour of conservatives for years to come.
Mr Trump was speaking to reporters at the White House.
He said he thought the judge "is doing very well right now".
"It's a very scary time for young men in America when you can be guilty of something that you may not be guilty of," Mr Trump told reporters. "This is a very difficult time."
"You could be somebody that was perfect your entire life and somebody could accuse you of something - doesn't necessarily have to be a woman - but somebody could accuse you of something and you're automatically guilty."
The president repeatedly said in response to questions about his top court pick that he was waiting to see what would come out of the FBI investigation and did not want to "interrupt" anything.
Mr Trump also criticised Prof Christine Blasey Ford - whose testimony before the Senate judiciary committee last week sparked off the FBI inquiry.
"It's a tough thing going on if you can be an exemplary person for 35 years and somebody comes and they say, 'you did this or that', and they give three witnesses and the three witnesses at this point do not corroborate what she was saying."
Mr Trump said it was a "very scary situation" to be "guilty until proven innocent".
"My whole life I've heard, 'you're innocent until proven guilty', but now you're guilty until proven innocent. That's a very, very difficult standard."
- BBC
