Possibly. Or he could have downplayed the eventual avalanche of red flags coming from his childhood best friend as "edgy jokes" and "just fooling around" because he "knew this guy for most of our lives and there is just no way". Or both. The truth is out there, somewhere.
He knew that the media would run cover for him when his friend inevitably got busted trying to diddle kids.
Possibly. Or he could have downplayed the eventual avalanche of red flags coming from his childhood best friend as "edgy jokes" and "just fooling around" because he "knew this guy for most of our lives and there is just no way". Or both. The truth is out there, somewhere.