WASHINGTON - Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, vowed Saturday to sue the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct in recent weeks, as he steps up efforts to keep his campaign afloat.
“Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign,” Trump said during remarks in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. “Total fabrication. The events never happened. Never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.”
He added that a “simple phone call” to major news outlets “gets them wall-to-wall coverage with virtually no fact-checking ever.” In the last two weeks, at least 10 women have come forward accusing Trump of inappropriately touching them. Their allegations came after a 2005 videotape surfaced of Trump bragging about being able to grope women and get away with it.
Trump often threatens to file lawsuits without actually doing so. Earlier this month, he threatened to sue The New York Times when it published assault allegations against him, but nearly two weeks later, he has declined to follow through.
Actress accuses Trump of
offering her $10,000
An adult film actress on Saturday became the latest woman to accuse Donald Trump of unwanted sexual advances, saying the Republican presidential candidate offered her $10,000 to come to his hotel room alone.
Jessica Drake is one of at least 11 women to have alleged that the real estate billionaire groped them, made inappropriate remarks or forcibly kissed them.
Speaking during a Los Angeles news conference accompanied by the high-profile discrimination lawyer Gloria Allred, Drake said she met Trump at a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, California in 2006.
“He flirted with me and invited me to walk along the golf course with him,” she said, adding that he asked her to his hotel room. She went along with two other women, Drake said.
Wearing pajamas when they entered, Trump “grabbed each of us tightly in a hug and kissed each one of us without asking permission.”
He also asked what it was like to film pornography, Drake said.
After she returned to her room, Drake said, Trump called her asking her to return to his suite and invited her to a party.
“What do you want? How much?” she said Trump asked her.
After she declined, Drake said, she received another call either from Trump or another man offering $10,000 and use of Trump’s private plane to fly home to Los Angeles if she were to accept.
During Saturday’s news conference, Allred — who also represents two other women who accuse Trump of unwanted sexual advances — showed a photograph of Trump and Drake at the golf tournament.
Trump’s campaign denied the Drake’s allegations.
“This story is totally false and ridiculous,” it said in a statement. “Mr Trump does not know this person, does not remember this person and would have no interest in ever knowing her.”
“This is just another attempt by the Clinton campaign to defame a candidate who just today is number one in three different polls,” it added of Trump’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
Trump has seen his campaign spiral downward in recent weeks ahead of the November 8 election after a number of women made allegations that he sexually assaulted them — claims he again insisted on Saturday were false.
He also threatened to take legal action against all the “liars” that have claimed to be victims of his sexual assaults.
“The events never happened. Never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over,” he said during a campaign rally.
The allegations have come on the heels of the release of a 2005 video in which Trump is heard making lewd comments about women to a television talk show host, saying his fame entitles him to grope women.
