ABC/Ida Mae Astute(WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump emphatically denied allegations Thursday that he sexually assaulted women, attacking the news organizations that published the reports and assailing the Clinton campaign for what he said was its role in perpetuating the claims.
“These vicious claims about me of inappropriate conduct with women are totally and absolutely false,” Trump said at a campaign event in West Palm Beach, Florida.
“And the Clintons know it. And they know it very well,” he continued. “These claims are all fabricated. They’re pure fiction. And they’re outright lies. These events never, ever happened. And the people that said them fully understand.”
Trump claimed to have “substantial evidence to dispute these lies” and that he would make them “public in an appropriate way and at an appropriate time, very soon.”
The New York Times, Palm Beach Post and People magazine all published stories Wednesday evening with accounts from women who said Trump kissed, grabbed and groped them on separate occasions dating back to the 1980s.
Trump slammed the reports as a “concerted coordinated and vicious attack” between the Clinton campaign and the media. Of each account, Trump said they are “preposterous, ludicrous and defy truth, common sense and logic.”
Jessica Leed told The New York Times she was touched by Trump on a first-class flight to New York more than 30 years ago. She recalled that Trump put his hands “everywhere” and “he was like an octopus.”
Trump said of Leed’s account, “Another ridiculous tale. No witnesses. No nothing.”
People magazine reporter Natasha Stoynoff, in a first-person account, recalled how she interviewed Trump and his wife Melania at his Mar-a-Lago Florida estate in 2005. During a break in the interview, Trump allegedly forced her against a wall and tried to kiss her.
Trump responded to Stoynoff’s story by pointing out the “area was a public area. People, all over the place.”
“Look at her. Look at her words,” Trump said. “You tell me what you think. I don’t think so. I don’t think so.”
Stoynoff claims Trump brought her into a room alone when he assaulted her. ABC News has not been able to reach Stoynoff for comment.
Trump questioned the timing of these sexual assault stories.
“These people are horrible people. They’re horrible, horrible liars,” Trump said of the women accusing him. “And interestingly, it happens to appear 26 days before our very important election.“
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