Donald Trump continued to push back against allegations accusing him of sexual assault during his campaign rally in Charlotte, N.C., on Friday night, arguing that he is the “victim” of “character assassination” by the Clinton campaign and the media.
Trump repeated that the allegations from seven women are “100 percent false” and are “made up.” He also attacked People Magazine for releasing a story from a writer who alleges Trump assaulted her while on assignment, calling for a boycott of the magazine.
“As you have seen, I am a victim of one of the great political smear campaigns in the history of our country.”
“They are coming after me to try and destroy what is considered by even [the media] the greatest movement in the history of our country,” Trump said. “The political establishment is trying to stop us because they know I’m a threat to their totally corrupt control.”
“Her speciality … has been character assassination and, really personally, going after people. That’s her speciality. She’s been doing it her whole career,” Trump said, adding that the campaign and media are bringing forth “false allegations.”
“These allegations are 100 percent false, as everybody — I think you get it. They’re made up. They never happened,” he said.
The GOP nominee said that while he knows tens of thousands of people, it’s not hard to find a small minority of people who are willing to make “false smears” to gain “personal fame” or for financial reasons.
“These claims defy reasons, truth, logic, common sense. They’re made without supporting witnesses. No witnesses,” Trump said. “Not a single shred of evidence.”
He then went on to make the call against the magazine, which released their story Wednesday, calling their claims “wild and ludicrous.” He then called to boycott their most recent issue.
Throughout most of the speech, Trump spoke off of his teleprompter, telling the crowd that about 20 minutes into the speech it stopped working before physically taking both of them apart.
Earlier in the day, Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, said that within “hours” the campaign would be releasing evidence refuting those allegations.
Trump’s campaign later refuted that claim.
“I didn’t say that. Governor Pence did,” spokesperson Hope Hicks told CBS. “I will let you know when we have more information.”
