Donald Trump on Friday mocked another one of the women to come forward and accuse him of sexual assault, telling a crowd of supporters that “she would not be my first choice.”
Trump was accusing the press of trying to sabotage his candidacy, saying, “The only way they figure they can slow it down is to come up with people that are willing to say, ‘oh, I was with Donald Trump in 1980. I was sitting with him on an airplane. And he went after me on the plane.'”
“Yeah, I’m going to go after you,” Trump added sarcastically as members of the audience laughed. “Believe me, she would not be my first choice, that I can tell you. You don’t know. That would not be my first choice.”
Jessica Leeds told the New York Times this week that she sat next to Trump on a flight in the early 1980s when she said he lifted the armrest between them, grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt. Trump called the report “a total fabrication” and threatened to sue. The Times fired back to defend its reporting and essentially dared Trump to proceed.
It’s the second day in a row Trump has responded to the increasing list of women accusing him of sexual misconduct by directly commenting on their appearance. On Thursday, he responded to People magazine writer Natasha Stoynoff’s first-person written account by saying, “Look at her.”
“Take a look. Look at her,” Trump said, bringing his hands together and apart. “Look at her words. You tell me what you think. I don’t think so.”
