This is exactly why public figures should be careful about the explanations they offer. Rather than relying on assumptions about what someone's behavior means, it's better to let the facts and evidence speak for themselves.
It was over for Max Miller politically when he said his wife couldn’t have been abused because she offered to make him dinner 6 days later. He may not have known it when he said it, but that was the end. You have to be a sick bastard to come up with that as your defense.