'Take a look at her... I don't think so': Donald Trump vows to sue The New York Times over sexual assault claims and mocks People Magazine writer who says he forcibly kissed her during an interview
- Speaking in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday, Donald Trump said he is preparing to sue The New York Times
- The Times published an article on Wednesday titled 'Two Woman Say Donald Trump Touched Them Inappropriately'
- Trump claimed major newspapers and TV networks are working hand-in-hand with Hillary and Bill Clinton to derail his presidential campaign
- Chafing at the New York Times' Wednesday bombshell, he said the paper of record and others like it are 'no longer involved in journalism'
- He added that the New York Times has 'a total political agenda'
- Trump also slammed a report from People Magazine, in which a writer said she was forcibly pushed up against a wall and kissed by him in 2005
- Six women now have come forward claiming they were kissed or touched inappropriately by Donald Trump over the past three decades
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Donald Trump fired back loudly on Thursday against a rapid-fire round of sexual-assault allegations against him, saying he is preparing to sue The New York Times for printing them, and saying they are 'false and slanderous in virtually every respect.'
Speaking in West Palm Beach, Florida, a defiant Trump blasted the American news media for 'smearing' him and claimed major newspapers and TV networks are working hand-in-hand with Hillary and Bill Clinton to derail his presidential campaign.
'These vicious claims about me of inappropriate conduct with women are totally and absolutely false,' he said, as die-hard supporters let out a deafening cheer to break the tension.
'And the Clintons know it. And they know it very well. These claims are all fabricated. They're pure fiction and they're outright lies. These events never, ever happened,' he added.
The billionaire White House hopeful placed the blame squarely on his presidential rival Hillary Clinton and her powerful political network.
Speaking in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday, Donald Trump said he is preparing to sue The New York Times
Trump claimed major newspapers and TV networks are working hand-in-hand with Hillary and Bill Clinton to derail his presidential campaign
'They knew they would throw every lie they could at me and my family and my loved ones,' he said.
But, he added, 'I never knew - as bad as it would be - I never knew it would be this vile, that it would be this bad, that it would be this vicious.'
'Nevertheless, I take all of these slings and arrows gladly for you. I take them for our movement so that we can have our country back,' he said.
A man in the audience yelled 'Braveheart!'
These attacks are orchestrated by the Clinton machine and their media outlets.
- Donald Trump
Trump pledged that he would keep hammering away on policy issues where he sees a strategic advantage over Clinton, including education, inner-city violence and jobs.
'I will not allow the Clinton machine to turn our campaign into a discussion of their slanders and lies, but will remain focused on the issues facing the American people,' he said.
Trump repeated a theme that has been common in recent speeches, that Clinton would have sputtered in her Democratic primary race against Vermont Sen Bernie Sanders without the consistent help of media allies who have misrepresented her as a populist champion.
The same reporters and editors, he charged on Thursday, are now trying to kill his candidacy by conspiring to libel him as a caveman-like Lothario while ignoring the real-world sexual abuses that Clinton tolerated in her husband.
'These attacks are orchestrated by the Clinton machine and their media outlets,' he trumpeted.
Trump also slammed a report from People Magazine, in which a writer said she was forcibly pushed up against a wall and kissed by him in 2005
Trump claimed that at least one of the women cited in the Times story had sent a him torrent of gushing letters and emails in the years since he allegedly groped her, asking him for a job
'Without the press, she is absolutely zero.'
And their goal, Trump claimed, is to maintain their iron grip on unearned financial wealth.
'With their control over our government at stake,' he said, citing 'trillions of dollars' in economic activity the hangs in the balance, 'the Clinton machine is committed to the destruction of our campaign'.
A war whoop went up as he stared straight ahead and declared: 'Not gonna happen.'
'They will lie, lie lie, and they will do whatever is necessary' to win, Trump said. 'The Clintons are criminals. Remember that: They're criminals.'
'Their agenda is to elect Crooked Hillary Clinton at any cost, at any price, no matter how many lives they destroy. For them it's a war. And for them nothing at all is out of bounds.
- Donald Trump
Chafing at the New York Times' Wednesday evening bombshell, he said the paper of record and others like it are 'no longer involved in journalism. They're a political special interest' with 'a total political agenda'.
'Their agenda is to elect Crooked Hillary Clinton at any cost, at any price, no matter how many lives they destroy. For them it's a war. And for them nothing at all is out of bounds,' he said.
Trump claimed that at least one of the women cited in the Times story had sent a him torrent of gushing letters and emails in the years since he allegedly groped her, asking him for a job.
Other news outlets, he said, found the evidence persuasive and dropped the story.
Trump cited another Times story by the same two reporters who 'smeared' him six months ago by lining up women who said he had sexually harassed them and made lewd comments at beauty pageants and in the workplace.
'The failing New York Times wrote a massive story attacking me,' he said, 'and the central witness they used said the story was false, that she was quoted inaccurately. She said I was a great guy ... and never made those remarks.'
'We demanded a retraction, but they refused to print it.' he said. 'The story was a fraud and a big embarrassment to the New York Times.'
Trump had his lawyers fire off a letter (above) to the New York Times on Wednesday, in which he calls the article 'defamatory'
The New York Times responded to Trump's letter on Thursday, saying that the company 'declines' to remove the article from its site
'They were very embarrassed!' he proclaimed.
'It will be part of the lawsuit we are preparing against them!'
Trump's 45 minutes were heavy on both conspiracy and cross-examination by proxy.
He claimed collusion between major press organs, Wall Street banks and politicians are attacking him because his candidacy represents a threat to the existing political order that has enriched them and made them powerful.
'The Washington establishment - and the financial and media corporations that fund them - exist for only one reason: to protect and enrich itself,' he said. 'The establishment has trillions of dollars at stake in this election.
Trump also slammed a report from People Magazine, in which writer Natasha Stoynoff said she was forcibly pushed up against a wall and kissed by him in 2005
'Our campaign represents a true existential threat like they haven't seen before. This is not simply another four-year election.'
He lambasted People magazine reporter Natasha Stoynoff, who claimed Trump forcibly pushed her against a wall and kissed her in 2005, in between sections of an interview with him and his wife Melania at their Mar-a-Lago estate, just a few miles from the site of Thursday's speech.
'I ask a very simple question,' he said. 'Why wasn't it part of the story that appeared 12 years ago? Why wasn't it part of the story?'
'I was one of the biggest stars with The Apprentice,' Trump boasted. 'And it would have been one of the biggest story of the year.'
Trump claimed he has already identified witnesses who dispute the reporter's account.
'This invented account has already been debunked by eyewitnesses who were there. They were there!' he blared.
'The very witness identified by the author has already said the story was absolutely false.'
Trump said the Mar-a-Lago room where he is accused of making the unwanted advance is a glass-enclosed public area.
Trump listens to former presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson during a meetig with local small business leaders before a campaign rally in West Palm Beach
At the end of a roundtable event for small business owners, Associated Press reporter Jonathan Lemire asked the Republican nominee if he had ever touched or groped a woman without her consent
'People all over the place. You take a look,' he said. 'Look at her. Look at her words. You tell me what you might think. I don't think so.'
'These people are horrible people. They're horrible, horrible liars,' he added. 'And interestingly it happens to appear just 26 days before our very important election.'
Trump said he always expected the Clinton campaign to mount a gutter-level attack on him, and he anticipated that major news outlets would play a part through 'third-rate journalism' in which 'facts mean nothing.'
'I knew this day would arrive,' he said. 'It was only a question of when.'
And I knew the American people would rise above it and vote for the future they deserve. The only thing that can stop this corrupt machine is you. The only force strong enough to save our country is us.'
The Obama administration avoided talking about Trump's increasingly fraught situation on Thursday while simultaneously twisting the knife.
'I don't have a specific reaction for you about the reports of – all of the reports of – sexual assault allegedly perpetrated by the Republican nominee for president,' Deputy White House Press Secretary Eric Schultz told reporters.
Schultz said Obama's opposition to Trump is based on a concern about his policies and temperament 'that has not just become evident over the last 24 hours, but has become evident in a long series of views and statements that we've seen from Donald Trump and the president’s belief that Donald Trump should not be president.'
First lady Michelle Obama lashed out at Trump personally, saying the sexual assault accusations have 'shaken me to my core.'
First lady Michelle Obama, however, lashed out at Trump personally, saying the sexual assault accusations have 'shaken me to my core.'
Schultz all but dared Trump to counterpunch against her.
'I can't think of a bolder way for Donald Trump to lose even more standing than he already has than by engaging the first lady of the United States,' he said.
Also on the campaign trail, Bill Clinton dodged reporters' questions by using his staff to keep them at a distance during two stops along a bus tour of Iowa.
These people are horrible people. They're horrible, horrible liars. And interestingly it happens to appear just 26 days before our very important election.
- Donald Trump
Angel Urena, the former president's spokesman, said the press would be able to ask Clinton about it later in the day.
In total, six women have come forward to accuse Donald Trump of touching or kissing them inappropriately, just days after the Republican nominee told Anderson Cooper that he had never kissed or groped a woman without their consent.
Temple Taggert, who competed as Miss Utah in the 1997 Miss USA pageant claims that Trump kissed her on the lips against her will.
Cassandra Searles, who served as Miss Washington in the 2013 pageant, claims that Trump 'grabbed her a**' and invited her back to his hotel room during the competition.
Natasha Stoynoff was interviewing Trump at Mar-a-Lago back in 2005 when she claims that Trump began 'forcing his tongue down [her] throat.'
Supporters of Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump cheer at a campaign rally in West Palm Beach
Mindy McGillivray claims she was also at Mar-a-Lago when she was groped by Trump.
Rachel Crooks claims Trump kissed her on the lips against her will in 2005, and Jessica Leeds alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her on a plane three decades ago.
Trump furiously denied the allegations of Crooks and Leeds when approached by a journalist for the New York Times.
It is apparent from, among other things, the timing of the article, that this is nothing more than a politically-motivated attempt to defeat Mr Trump's candidacy
- Donald Trump's lawyers in regards to the New York Times article
At the end of a roundtable event for small business owners, Associated Press reporter Jonathan Lemire asked the Republican nominee if he had ever touched or groped a woman without her consent.
'Mr. Trump, can you deny - have ever touched her in history,' asked Lemire.
It is unclear which of the six women he was referring to at the time.
Trump shook his head in disgust while others in the room began to boo. He then told the roundtable participants: 'What a sleazebag.'
The event was being livestreamed, but the feed cut off just as Lemire asked his question.
Trump's campaign has also denied the accusations being made by these women, saying they are 'fiction' and 'completely false.'
They also sent a legal letter to the Times, and Trump said on Thursday that he plans to move forward with a lawsuit.
'Your article is reckless, defamatory and constitutes libel per se. It is apparent from, among other things, the timing of the article, that this is nothing more than a politically-motivated attempt to defeat Mr Trump's candidacy,' reads the letter.
Women wearing Trump T-shirts stood cheering and taking photos as Trump gave his speech
Supporters of Trum hold banners during the Trump campaign stop at the South Florida Fair Expo Center in West Palm Beach
A senior campaign aide for Trump has previously stated that the Republican nominees was preparing to go to 'war' with the Times.
Lawyers from the New York Times quickly fired off their own, very strongly worded response to Trump.
The Times stated in the letter that they declined to take down the Trump story despite his lawyers request, saying: 'Mr. Trump has bragged about his non-consensual sexual touching of women. He has bragged about intruding on beauty pageant contestants in their dressing rooms.
Nothing in our article has had the slightest effect on the reputation that Mr. Trump, through his own words and actions, has already created for himself.
- New York Times' response to Trump
'He acquiesced to a radio host's request to discuss Mr. Trump's own daughter as a "piece of a**."'
The letter later states: 'Nothing in our article has had the slightest effect on the reputation that Mr. Trump, through his own words and actions, has already created for himself.'
Lawyers for the Times then conclude their letter by writing: 'We published newsworthy information about a subject of deep national concern.
'If Mr. Trump disagrees, if he believes that American citizens had no right to hear what these women had to say and that the law of this country forces us and those who would dare to criticize him to stand silent or be punished, we welcome the opportunity to have a court set him straight.’
In a 2005 interview with Access Hollywood, Trump was captured on audio saying to host Billy Bush: 'I'm automatically attracted to beautiful women — I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet.
'Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.'
He said in the wake of the tape's release that his comments were nothing more than locker room talk.'
One woman screamed at members of the media working in a press area at a Trump campaign rally
Trump supporters hold anti-Hillary Clinton posters including one calling her 'dishonest, untrustworthy' and 'hateful' before the rally
Clinton's campaign condemned the behavior described in the latest allegations, saying it suggest Trump lied to voters during Sunday's second presidential debate.
'This disturbing story sadly fits everything we know about the way Donald Trump has treated women,' communications director Jennifer Palmieri said in a statement.
'These reports suggest that he lied on the debate stage and that the disgusting behavior he bragged about in the tape is more than just words.'
Fox News host Megyn Kelly also weighed in on the topic on Twitter Wednesday night, covering both whether Trump would have much chance in a lawsuit and the complicated nature of women who have been victims of assault coming forward.
Responding to a report Trump's camp was drafting a suit, Kelly tweeted: 'Risks: Defamation v. hard to prove since DT=pub figure. Also, truth is a defense so NYT will double down & will cast wide net in discovery.'
The star host also discussed why the alleged victims may have taken so long to come forward and report the abuse.
'Well, these women, they never had a lawsuit,' she said on the Kelly File. 'And the truth is that victims of sexual assault, victims of rape, victims of unwanted groping, they often don’t come forward.
'They’re humiliated, especially back in the day. They were told move along, it happens to all women, you’ve got to take it. It’s a complicated issue.'
This latest Trump controversy comes just one day after his campaign said it was planning to ramp up its attacks on Bill Clinton as a way to attack Hillary.
'We’re going to turn him into Bill Cosby,' Steve Bannon told staffers, according toBloomberg News.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3836891/Donald-Trump-vows-sue-New-York-Times-sexual-assault-claims-mocks-People-Magazine-writer-says-forcibly-kissed-interview.html#ixzz4N0QtTB1c
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