A former Miss Finland has become the 12th woman to allege Donald Trump sexually harassed her.
Ninni Laaksonen, who was crowned winner of the beauty pageant in 2006, claimed to a Finnish newspaper on Thursday, October 27, that the Republican presidential nominee, 70, grabbed her butt before an appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman 10 years ago.
According to a translation from The Telegraph, the former beauty queen, now 30, alleged to Ilta-Sanomat that the New York businessman groped her as they posed for a photograph outside the building where the show filmed in New York City. Both Laaksonen and Trump appeared on the show in July 2006.
“Trump stood right next to me and suddenly he squeezed my butt,” she alleged, per The Telegraph’s translation. “He really grabbed my butt. I don’t think anybody saw it, but I flinched and thought, What is happening?”
Laaksonen said she was told Trump was attracted to her because he believed she resembled his wife, Melania, a revelation that left her feeling “disgusted.”
The former Apprentice star has been accused of sexual misconduct by 11 other women, who came forward with their allegations after The Washington Post released a lewd video of Trump bragging to Billy Bush that he could get away with kissing and grabbing women by “the p–sy” because of his celebrity.
The shocking comments and video, taken at the time of a 2005 Access Hollywood interview with Bush, resurfaced on October 7 and caused widespread outrage.
Trump issued a video apologizing for his comments, but denied during the second presidential debate on October 9 that he had ever actually assaulted anyone. That denial prompted a number of women to come forward to say they had been subject to unwanted physical contact by Trump.
He vowed to sue his accusers during remarks in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, and again denied any misconduct in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday, October 26.
“Let’s not waste any more time. These stories were fabricated. They’re total lies,” he said.
