A former participant in the television reality show The Apprentice that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump hosted has become the eighth woman to accuse him of sexual assault in less than a week after he was heard boasting of groping women, in a leaked tape. Summer Zervos said the candidate kissed her “open-mouthed”, touched her breast and thrust his genitals against her.
Mr. Trump reiterated his rebuttal, and questioned the motives of the accusers and said about one of them: “She would not be my first choice.” He told a rally that his advisers told him not to respond to the allegations, but he had to. “I was sitting alone, like this, and then I went wahh” he said, gesturing with his hand. The crowd laughed.
Leading the attack
President Barack Obama led the Democratic attack on Mr. Trump on Friday using wit and sarcasm to maul not only the candidate, but also the Republican leadership. For the second day in a row, Mr. Obama questioned the notion that Mr. Trump is somehow different from the rest of the Republicans — which is a change in the Democratic strategy.
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Mr. Obama had in the past sought to portray Mr. Trump as an outlier in the Republican Party in an effort to create a wedge among them. Now, the effort is to tie the Republican Party with Mr. Trump, who the Democrats and many commentators believe is on a course of self-destruction.
Mr. Obama also ridiculed Mr. Trump’s criticism of the “global elite” that the candidate said was out to destroy him. “This is a guy who spent all his time hanging around trying to convince everybody he was a global elite,” Mr. Obama said. “Talking about how great his buildings are, how luxurious and how rich he is and flying around everywhere. All he had time for was celebrities and now suddenly he’s acting like he’s a ‘populist’ out there.”
Mr. Trump responded to President Obama by questioning his competence and issuing a veiled a threat: “What if some women come up and say about him what they say falsely about me?”
On the defensive
Meanwhile, Clinton campaign chief John Podesta and WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange crossed swords on Twitter. “I bet the lobster risotto is better than the food at the Ecuadorian Embassy,” Mr. Podesta tweeted, with a picture of a meal being prepared.
Mr. Assange is living in asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
“Yes, we get it. The elite eat better than the peasants they abuse,” the WikiLeaks handle responded. WikiLeaks has been releasing e-mails hacked from Mr. Podesta’s account, putting the Clinton campaign on the defensive on several issues.
