Trump dismisses sex assault accusations
President goes on attack on Twitter amid calls to resign.
President WASHINGTON —
Donald Trump aggressively returned to the issue of sexual harassment Tuesday, again dismissing his own accusers as fabricators and attacking a female Demo- cratic senator as a “lightweight” who “would do anything” for campaign contributions.
The president’s attacks came in early morning Twitter posts after three of the accusers had come forward Monday to renew their charges from last year that Trump had sexually assaulted them before he entered politics, and after the senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., had called for him to resign.
While Trump weathered the accusations during his presidential campaign, the flood of recent allegations against powerful men has revived the issue of sexual harassment with a newfound fury. By inserting himself directly into the discussion, the president ensured that calls for renewed scrutiny of the women’s allegations would gain new energy and prominence.
Gillibrand was quick to fire back, saying she would not be silenced by a president whose comments she described as “a sexist smear.”
“It was a sexist smear attempting to silence my voice, and I will not be silenced on this issue,” she said. “Neither will the women who stood up to the president yesterday,” she added.
Gillibrand first learned of the president’s Twitter post while she was attending a bipartisan Bible study Tuesday morning, one of her aides said. The aide also said that Gillibrand had met with Trump just once in his office, several years ago, and that his daughter Ivanka was at the meeting.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., who said he was with Gillibrand at Bible study when the tweet was sent, said, “I think this is simply one of those cases where it is best if we look at what the president does and not pay attention to the tweets.”
Sarah Huckabee Sand- ers, the White House press secretary, later denied that Trump’s tweet contained a sexual reference, saying that he was referring to general corruption in the U.S. polit- ical system.
Asked whether the pres- ident would apologize to people who read the tweet as sexual innuendo, Sanders said he would not. “Only if your mind is in the gutter would you have read it that way,” she said.
“He’s not alleging anything. He’s talking about the way that our system func- tions as it is,” Sanders said at a White House news conference. “That comment, frankly isn’t something new,” she added, saying that “he’s used that same terminology many times in reference to men. There’s no way that this is sexist at all.”
Senate Democrats, including Gillibrand, forced the resignation last week of Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., clearing away any ambiguity over their push to hold the pres- ident accountable after the claims of his accusers. About 60 Democratic women in Congress demanded an inquiry into the women’s allegations against the president, an unlikely prospect given Republican majorities in the House and Senate.
Gillibrand’s Senate colleagues quickly rallied to her side. Among the more forceful was Sen. Mazie Horono, D-Hawaii, who said on Twit- ter, “.@realDonaldTrump is a misogynist, compulsive liar, and admitted sexual preda- tor. Attacks on Kirsten are the latest example that no one is safe from this bully. He must resign.”