While the year 2016 must have been a memorable one for Donald Trump, when he was elected the president of the United States, it looks like 2017 is something that will outshine the previous year hands down, though not for the right reasons. Trump has been accused of improper conduct and sexual assault by numerous women and the issue continues to haunt him.
But he isn't someone who is easily fazed. After three women reasserted their claims on NBC News' "Megyn Kelly Today" and a press conference of how Trump sexually harassed them, he has retorted that he doesn't know these women. Samantha Holvey, a former Miss USA contestant, Jessica Leeds, a New York woman, and Rachel Crooks, a former Bayrock Group receptionist, have all accused the US president of sexual misconduct and have demanded action against him.
While Trump had earlier said that these women, who he has apparently never met, are spreading lies about him, on Tuesday, December 12, he tweeted that the Democrats have been making "false accusations" against him through these women.
"Despite thousands of hours wasted and many millions of dollars spent, the Democrats have been unable to show any collusion with Russia - so now they are moving on to the false accusations and fabricated stories of women who I don't know and/or have never met. FAKE NEWS!" he wrote.
Despite thousands of hours wasted and many millions of dollars spent, the Democrats have been unable to show any collusion with Russia - so now they are moving on to the false accusations and fabricated stories of women who I don’t know and/or have never met. FAKE NEWS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2017
White House Press Secretary Huckabee Sanders then said during a daily press briefing that the US President was only referring to Holvey, Leeds and Crooks. Sanders had earlier said that Trump administration would release the "multiple reports," which contain the eyewitnesses' accounts, which prove that the US president hasn't done anything wrong.
"In terms of the specific eyewitness accounts, there have been multiple reports; I'd be happy to provide them to you after the briefing is completed," Sanders added.
Meanwhile, Trump is also said to be "furious" with Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, after she spoke up on the accusations and said that these women opening up about their ordeal "should be heard."
"They should be heard, and they should be dealt with," Haley said in a CBS interview. "And I think we heard from them before the election. And I think any woman who has felt violated or felt mistreated in any way, they have every right to speak up."
Haley comments "stunned" the president's advisers, according to the Associated Press, and the US president himself is said to be "infuriated."
Post the allegations, four US senators said that the president must resign as these instances described by the women aren't false. "These allegations are credible; they are numerous. I've heard these women's testimony, and many of them are heartbreaking" Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, told CNN.
Bernie Sanders, Jeff Merkley, and Cory Booker have also urged Trump to resign.
