--- title: White House Denies Donald Trump Sexual Misconduct Claims description: The White House denied allegations of sexual misconduct against President Trump, after three of his accusers called for an investigation. canonical: https://time.com/5059236/white-house-donald-trump-sexual-assault-accusers/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-11T20:26:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T23:40:42.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: White House Says Sexual Misconduct Allegations 'Took Place Long Before' 2016 Election og:description: "This took place long before he was elected to be president." og:url: https://time.com/5059236/white-house-donald-trump-sexual-assault-accusers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e9ae766316b8d4d/6988f4a997cdffceae6b3972/sarah-huckabee-sanders-briefing.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders Holds Daily Briefing At White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House Says Sexual Misconduct Allegations 'Took Place Long Before' 2016 Election twitter:description: "This took place long before he was elected to be president." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e9ae766316b8d4d/6988f4a997cdffceae6b3972/sarah-huckabee-sanders-briefing.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House Says Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against President Trump 'Took Place Long Before' 2016 Election ## Video: Panel of Women Who Have Accused President Trump of Misconduct [Watch (HLS stream): Panel of Women Who Have Accused President Trump of Misconduct](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zDWMIweE.m3u8) (1:04)  _Published 2017-12-11. Several women who have accused President Donald Trump of sexual misconduct gave a group press conference Monday morning to call on Congress to investigate their allegations._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Dec 12, 2023 11:40 PM UTCPublished: Dec 11, 2017 8:26 PM UTC  White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during the White House daily briefing on Dec. 11, 2017 in Washington, DC. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during the White House daily briefing on Dec. 11, 2017 in Washington, DC.Win McNamee—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Dec 12, 2023 11:40 PM UTCPublished: Dec 11, 2017 8:26 PM UTC The White House again denied allegations of sexual misconduct against President Trump, as [three of his accusers](http://time.com/5058518/donald-trump-sexual-harassment-allegations/) called for Congress to investigate his past behavior. Speaking at the daily press briefing, spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Trump has denied the women’s allegations, that any incidents took place a long time ago and that voters settled the discussion when they picked Trump in the 2016 election. “\[President Trump\] thinks it’s a good thing that women are coming forward, but he also feels strongly that a mere allegation shouldn’t determine the course,” she said Monday afternoon. “In this case, the president has denied any of these allegations.” The comments came after three of [the 19 women who have accused Trump](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/12/what-about-the-19-women-who-accused-trump/547724/) of sexual harassment or sexual misconduct [spoke on the “Today” show](http://time.com/5058369/donald-trump-megyn-kelly-accusers/) about their experiences and held a press conference to call for a congressional investigation. “Our stories seem to fall on deaf ears,” Rachel Crooks, who claims Trump forcibly kissed her, said during a press conference Monday morning. “In an objective setting, without question a person with this record would have entered the political graveyard of aspirations, never to return.” Along with the accusations from the women, Trump was also caught on a hot mic on [“Access Hollywood”](http://motto.time.com/4788179/billy-bush-interview-access-hollywood-tape/) bragging about touching women without their consent, a moment he apologized for and called [“locker room talk”](http://time.com/4526039/donald-trump-locker-room-athletes/) before the election. Sanders repeated arguments she has made before that the election settled the question of whether Trump harassed women: “We feel like these allegations have been answered through that process.” She also added that the allegations were about things which happened in the past. “This took place long before he was elected to be president,” she said. Democratic lawmakers have upped the stakes recently, with New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand [calling for Trump to resign](http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/11/politics/trump-resign-gillibrand-sexual-assault/index.html) over the allegations in an interview Monday with CNN and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden calling for an investigation. > [](https://twitter.com/RonWyden/status/940292955188924416) Trump’s three female accusers said they were coming forward again because they felt that things had changed in recent weeks with the downfalls of major public figures like Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and Minnesota Sen. [Al Franken](http://time.com/5057462/al-franken-resignation-sorry/) over sexual misconduct. “We’re at the position now where in some areas of our society people are being held accountable for unwanted behavior,” said Jessica Leeds, who has alleged that Trump groped her on an airplane, “but we are not holding our president accountable for what he is and who he is.” **Correction:** The original version of this story misstated the state that Al Franken represents in the Senate. 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