Amid sexual harassment allegations against Donald Trump, the president is now claiming that he has never met his accusers.
“Despite thousands of hours wasted and many millions of dollars spent, the Democrats have been unable to show any collusion with Russia – so now they are moving on to the false accusations and fabricated stories of women who I don’t know and/or have never met,” Trump, 71, wrote on Tuesday, December 12. “FAKE NEWS!”
One day prior, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters she has “specific eyewitness accounts” that prove Trump’s interactions with these women were not improper, per MSNBC, which seems to reject the president’s suggestion that he didn’t know the women at all.
Trump’s claim comes one day after three of his nearly twenty accusers shared their stories on NBC News’ Megyn Kelly Today on Monday, December 11. Samantha Holvey, who competed in the Miss USA pageant in 2006, claimed Trump would walk into dressing rooms and inspect each contestant; Jessica Leeds alleged that Trump tried to put his hand up her skirt during a flight to New York in the 1970s; and Rachel Crooks, a former Trump Tower receptionist, claimed the politician kissed her on the mouth in 2005.
Several of Trump’s other accusers have had public encounters with the businessman, proving their past meetings did in fact exist. Summer Zervose was a contestant on the fifth season of NBC’s The Apprentice, while Natasha Stoynoff was a former People magazine staff writer who interviewed Trump and Melania Trump in Mar-a-Lago in 2005, when, she alleges, Trump forced her against a wall and kissed her.
The White House sent a statement to Megyn Kelly Today on Monday morning, which was read live on air: “These false claims, totally disputed in most cases by eyewitness accounts, were addressed at length during last year’s campaign, and the American people voiced their judgement by delivering a decisive victory. The timing and absurdity of these false claims speaks volumes and the publicity tour that has begun only further confirms the political motives behind them.”
