politics

A woman accused Donald Trump of assault. His response was that she's 'not hot enough' to assault.

Another day, another Donald Trump doozy. This time he has dismissed allegations of sexual assault by suggesting the accuser isn’t attractive enough for him.

PEOPLE journalist, Natasha Stoynoff, this week went public with the accusation that the Republican presidential candidate shoved her against a wall and forcibly kissed her during an interview in Mar-a-Lago in 2005 – around the time that the now infamous “grab them by the pussy” tape was recorded.

Styonoff says she felt “utterly violated” by the incident, but speaking at a rally in Florida, Trump flatly denied it ever occurred.

First he suggested there would have been witnesses: "By the way, the area was a public area. People all over the place,” he said.

And then he pulled out his, well, Trump card: "Take a look. You take a look. Look at her," he said. “Look at her words. You tell me what you think. I don’t think so. I don’t think so.”

And the crowd cheered.

Stoynoff wrote about the incident in PEOPLE on Wednesday: "We walked into that room alone, and Trump shut the door behind us. I turned around, and within seconds he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat.

"I was stunned. And I was grateful when Trump’s longtime butler burst into the room a minute later, as I tried to unpin myself."

Stoynoff was writing a story about first anniversary of Trump's marriage to Melania, who was pregnant at the time.

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Trump this morning posted the above Tweet to refute Stoynoff's allegation, echoing his comments in the rally speech: "Why didn't they make it part of the story? I was one of the biggest stars on television with The Apprentice, and it would have been one of the biggest stories of the year."

However, perhaps someone ought to direct him to Wednesday's article in which she answers that exact question:

"Like many women, I was ashamed and blamed myself for his transgression. I minimized it (“It’s not like he raped me…”); I doubted my recollection and my reaction. I was afraid that a famous, powerful, wealthy man could and would discredit and destroy me, especially if I got his coveted PEOPLE feature killed," she wrote.

While Trump denies the allegation, it's precisely the behaviour he refers to in the Access Hollywood recording obtained last week by The Washington Post.

"I'm automatically attracted to beautiful [women]— I just start kissing them," he can be heard telling host Billy Bush in the 2005 tape.

"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 ... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."

Celebrity journalist says Trump sexually assaulted her while pregnant Melania was upstairs.