--- title: Donald Trump Sexual Assault: He Argues Press Is Lying description: Donald Trump categorically denied multiple allegations of sexual assault Thursday, blaming the media for promoting "outright lies." canonical: https://time.com/4530339/donald-trump-sexual-assault-media-hillary-clinton/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-13T18:16:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:29.073Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump: Sexual Assault Stories Are 'Lies' og:description: "They’re pure fiction, and they’re outright lies." og:url: https://time.com/4530339/donald-trump-sexual-assault-media-hillary-clinton/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a763d60fbba7ff2/6988a9eb524fc00261df9d90/donald-trump-florida.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump gestures at a campaign rally in West Palm Beach og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump: Sexual Assault Stories Are 'Lies' twitter:description: "They’re pure fiction, and they’re outright lies." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a763d60fbba7ff2/6988a9eb524fc00261df9d90/donald-trump-florida.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Blasts the Press Over Sexual Assault Stories: 'They Will Lie, Lie, Lie' > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Oct 13, 2016 6:16 PM UTC  Donald Trump gestures to the audience at a campaign rally in West Palm Beach, Florida, Oct. 13, 2016. Donald Trump gestures to the audience at a campaign rally in West Palm Beach, Florida, Oct. 13, 2016. Mike Segar—Reuters  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Oct 13, 2016 6:16 PM UTC Donald Trump categorically denied multiple allegations of sexual assault Thursday, blaming the media and arguing that rival Hillary Clinton is systematically trying to destroy him. Speaking in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump argued that stories in the [New York _Times_](http://time.com/4529049/women-allege-donald-trump-touched-inappropriate/?xid=homepage) and [People](http://people.com/politics/donald-trump-attacked-people-writer/?xid=homepage) magazine were “pure fiction” and “outright lies” created to undermine his campaign. He also argued that he had “substantial evidence” to dispute them that he will make public later. “These vicious claims about me of inappropriate conduct with women are totally and absolutely false. And the Clintons know it, and they know it very well,” he said. “These claims are all fabricated. They’re pure fiction, and they’re outright lies. These events never, ever happened.” Reading off a Teleprompter at his Thursday rally, Trump barely contained his anger as his unleashed a series of allegations of his own, claiming that the media is coordinating with Hillary Clinton’s campaign in an attempt to ruin his candidacy. Trump responded to two allegations directly during his speech. Of Jessica Leeds, who told the _Times_ that Trump grabbed her breasts on an airplane, Trump said: “Another ridiculous tale, no witnesses, no nothing.” And of _People_ writer Natasha Stoynoff, who said Trump pushed her up against a wall and kissed her without her consent while she was writing a profile, Trump seemed to imply that her looks prove he would not have wanted to kiss her. “Look at her, look at her words, you tell me what you think,” he said. “I don’t think so.” Trump also argued that the news media is not objective, characterizing it as a “special interest” seeking to maintain its own privileged position at the expense of average Americans. “The most powerful weapon deployed by the Clintons is the corporate media, the press. Let’s be clear on one thing: the corporate media in our country is no longer involved in journalism,” he said. “They’re a political special interest … and their agenda is to elect crooked Hillary Clinton at any cost, at any price, no matter how many lives they destroy. For them, it’s a war. And for them, nothing at all is out of bounds.” “They will attack you, they will slander you, they will seek to destroy your career and your family,” Trump continued. “They will seek to destroy everything about you, including your reputation. they will lie, lie, lie, and then again they will do worse than that. They will do whatever is necessary.” The Republican nominee then focused his ire on one publication in particular: The New York _Times_. (The _Times_ [published](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/us/politics/donald-trump-women.html?%5Fr=0) two sexual assault allegations against Trump Wednesday, as well as [another piece](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/us/politics/donald-trump-women.html) in May that included other examples of alleged inappropriate contact between Trump and women). Trump said he is currently preparing a lawsuit against the newspaper, and threw in some insults as well: “The New York _Times_ is fighting desperately for its relevance and its financial survival,” he said. Trump’s campaign [demanded a retraction](https://assets.donaldjtrump.com/DemandForRetraction.PDF) from the newspaper on Wednesday. The _Times_ [responded](https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/786622192125669376) to the cease and desist letter, writing that the reporters “worked diligently to confirm the women’s accounts,” and, “We did what the law allows; we published newsworthy information about a subject of deep public concern. If Mr. Trump disagrees, if he believes that American citizens had no right to hear what these women had to say and that the law of this country forces us and those who would dare to criticize him to stand silent or be punished, we welcome the opportunity to have a court set him straight.” But after getting specific with the New York _Times,_ Trump brought his Florida speech back to broader election themes. Tying the Clinton family to the media allowed Trump to continue hammering an idea he’s been teeing up before a potential loss on November 8: that the entire American political system is rigged against him and his supporters. “This is a conspiracy against you, the American people,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4530339/donald-trump-sexual-assault-media-hillary-clinton/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4530339/donald-trump-sexual-assault-media-hillary-clinton/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Blasts the Press Over Sexual Assault Stories: 'They Will Lie, Lie, Lie'","datePublished":"2016-10-13T18:16:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:29.073Z","description":"Donald Trump categorically denied multiple allegations of sexual assault Thursday, blaming the media for promoting \"outright lies.\"","url":"https://time.com/4530339/donald-trump-sexual-assault-media-hillary-clinton/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election","New York Times"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a763d60fbba7ff2/6988a9eb524fc00261df9d90/donald-trump-florida.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a763d60fbba7ff2/6988a9eb524fc00261df9d90/donald-trump-florida.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump gestures at a campaign rally in West Palm Beach","caption":"Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump gestures at a campaign rally in West Palm Beach","creditText":"Mike Segar—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4530339/donald-trump-sexual-assault-media-hillary-clinton/","name":"Donald Trump Blasts the Press Over Sexual Assault Stories: 'They Will Lie, Lie, Lie'"}}]}] ```