White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has issued a blanket rejection dismissing more than a dozen allegations of sexual harassment made against President Trump, labeling his accusers liars and categorizing their claims as “fake news” in response to a question raised during a White House press briefing Friday.
“Obviously sexual harassment has been in the news. At least 16 women accused the president of sexually harassing them throughout the course of the campaign. Last week, during the press conference in the Rose Garden, the president called these accusations ’fake news.’ Is [it] the official White House position that all of these women are lying?” CBS News reporter Jacqueline Alemany asked during Friday’s briefing.
“Yes. We’ve been clear on that from the beginning, and the president has spoken on it,” Mrs. Sanders responded.
The reporter’s questioning came on the heels of several well-known men facing a slew of sexual harassment claims in the wake of a bombshell report published earlier this month detailing decades of alleged misconduct on the part of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein spurring at least eight legal settlements.
Dozens of women have since come forward with similar allegations involving high-profile and powerful men, ranging from former President George H.W. Bush to political journalist Mark Halperin, among others.
Mr. Trump was repeatedly accused of sexual harassment while campaigning for office, and last week he was asked to respond to allegations made by Summer Zervos, a contestant on the president’s former reality television show, “The Apprentice.”
“All I can say is it’s totally fake news. It’s just fake. It’s fake. It’s made-up stuff, and it’s disgraceful, what happens, but … that happens in the world of politics.” Mr. Trump responded.
Ms. Zervos is among 11 women who publicly came forward with allegations involving Mr. Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign. She alleges Mr. Trump aggressively kissed and groped her during a 2007 meeting after her “Apprentice” stint, and earlier this month it was revealed that her attorneys recently subpoenaed Mr. Trump’s campaign for “all documents concerning any woman who asserted that Donald J. Trump touched her inappropriately.”
Mr. Trump infamously bragged of being able to sexual assault women because of his celebrity status in an “Access Hollywood” recording from 2005 leaked during last year’s election. He apologized after the tape was released and labeled his comments “locker-room talk.”
Forty-two percent of female voters cast ballots for Mr. Trump in the 2016 election, while 54 percent voted for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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