In tweets Thursday morning, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump dismissed several allegations of sexual assault made against him this week.
In reports published Wednesday, four women accused Trump of making unwanted sexual advances on them. The accusations came days after a salacious leaked "Access Hollywood" tape showed Trump bragging in 2005 that his celebrity status allowed him to grope women.
The allegations, made by Jessica Leeds and Rachel Crooks in The New York Times, Natasha Stoynoff in People, and Mindy McGillivray in The Palm Beach Post, came after Trump denied ever making unwanted advances when asked during Sunday night's presidential debate.
"The phoney story in the failing @nytimes is a TOTAL FABRICATION," Trump said in one tweet. "Written by same people as last discredited story on woman. WATCH!"
Trump is likely referring to a May story in The New York Times about how he has interacted with women in private. That story was written by the same two reporters who wrote the Wednesday story with the new allegations. Early Thursday morning, a lawyer representing Trump sent a letter to the Times demanding a retraction and threatening the newspaper with a lawsuit.
Trump also attacked the women who wrote a first-hand account in People magazine about Trump allegedly making unwanted advances on her in 2005 when she interviewed him for a story.
"Why didn't the writer of the twelve year old article in People Magazine mention the 'incident' in her story," Trump tweeted. "Because it did not happen!"
None of the four women had previously come forward with their stories. They said they did so after Trump said in Sunday night's presidential debate that his bragging about groping women and kissing them without consent in the 2005 leaked tape was "just words" and "locker room talk."
In the tape, in which Trump was talking to NBC's Billy Bush aboard an "Access Hollywood" tour bus, Trump bragged about being able to "grab" women "by the p---y" because "when you're a star they let you do it."
Trump denied the latest allegations to the Times.
"None of this ever took place," he told the Times, threatening to sue the newspaper.
"You are a disgusting human being," he added to the reporter.
Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway highlighted a tweet from Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton days before the latest stories on Trump emerged. Clinton's tweet said that "every survivor of sexual assault deserves to be heard, believed, and supported." The Trump campaign has recently gone after Clinton for allegedly trying to silence women who had accused her husband and former President Bill Clinton of sexual assault.
RT if you agree. "Every" the operative word here. https://t.co/hqvij2DPjA
— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) October 10, 2016 Allan Smith contributed to this report.
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