GREENSBORO, N.C. — Donald Trump suggested several times Friday that he would not have sexually harassed the women who have accused him of assault because of their physical attractiveness. The comments, which appeared to be made offhandedly, drew repeated laughs from the audience.
“Believe me, she would not be my first choice, that I can tell you,” Trump said during a campaign event here, referring to one alleged victim. “You don’t know. That would not be my first choice.”
Trump was in that instance referring to Jessica Leeds, who accused Trump of putting his hand up her skirt on an airplane decades ago. Her story, which was first recounted in the New York Times, is one of a half-dozen allegations that have been made in recent days.
He added later, in a singsong voice: “When you looked at that horrible woman last night, you said, ‘I don’t think so.’ ”
Trump mocked another woman, former People Magazine reporter Natasha Stoynoff, who accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in 2005 while she interviewed him for a story. Trump’s wife, Melania, was pregnant at the time and had left them to change clothes.
“Check out her Facebook, you’ll understand,” Trump told the crowd, which laughed.
“They say, ‘Oh, in 1992 he went like,’ Trump says, throwing his arms out, gesturing indecipherably.
[Former People editor: Odds were stacked against reporter ‘ever coming forward’]
Trump spent the first part of his rally addressing the accusations, which he denied and condemned. In the back, several supporters began chanting in support. He said that he believes some of his accusers are “doing it for probably a little fame.”
“We don’t care! We don’t care! We don’t care!” a man yelled from the crowd.
Responding to a new allegation of unwanted sexual contact — first reported by The Washington Post on Friday — Trump dismissed the story by citing that he is rarely alone.
[Woman says Trump reached under her skirt and groped her in early 1990s]
“One came out recently, where I was sitting alone in some club. I really don’t sit alone that much. I don’t think I sit alone that much, honestly,” he said. “I was sitting alone by myself and then I went, what, to somebody? I just heard this one. It’s like, unbelievable.”
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The Post’s story never says that Trump was alone at the club.
Also Friday, Summer Zervos, a former contestant on “The Apprentice,” accused Trump of groping her without her consent.
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Summer Zervos, a former contestant on “The Apprentice,” says Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump kissed and groped her without her consent when she approached him about a job in 2007. (Reuters)
While Trump said Thursday that he would soon present evidence proving that his accusers are not telling the truth, he offered no such corroboration at the rally Friday in Greensboro.
As he turned his attack toward President Obama, Trump expressed bewilderment as to why nobody has made politically motivated accusations of sexual assault against the president.
“He’s talking about me like he knows me. I don’t know him, he doesn’t know me. And why doesn’t some woman maybe come up and say what they say falsely about me, they could say it about him. They could say it about anybody,” Trump said. “They could say it about anybody. I’ll tell you what, he better be careful, because they could say it about anybody.”
Sean Sullivan, in Washington, contributed to this report.
