You cannot pretend there's no connection.

Not if you care for the candidate that you support to be considered trustworthy.

If honesty and trust is the measure, then every candidate has to own their past.
None can paste platitudes over their past and pretend that their actual action either never existed or didn't matter if it existed, and win a campaign.
That applies to *all* political candidates in democratic elections in all democratic countries, in all circumstances. It's a general truth that governs political discourse.
Well, maybe *this* election, with the absolute totality of $$$ control over the air space now final, things will be different. Maybe such a candidate can win - but at a cost, a terrible cost.