Trump Denies Rape Allegation With A Familiar Insult: "Not My Type"

In denying E. Jean Carroll’s allegation that he raped her, President Donald Trump insulted her, insisting she was not his “type.”

In a piece published in New York Magazine on Friday, Carroll wrote that in the mid-1990s, Trump assaulted her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan. Speaking with The Hill on Monday, Trump denied it.

“I’ll say it with great respect: Number one, she’s not my type,” the president said to the outlet in an Oval Office interview. “Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?”

Trump claimed in a previous statement that he had never met Carroll — despite the fact that New York Magazine had included a photo of the two together — while also saying the writer was making the allegation to get publicity for herself. The president effectively reiterated that statement to The Hill.

“Totally lying. I don’t know anything about her,” he said. “I know nothing about this woman. I know nothing about her. She is — it’s just a terrible thing that people can make statements like that.”

Carroll, a popular longtime advice writer, is the 22nd woman to come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct by Trump. The president has denied every allegation.

Speaking on CNN after Trump’s comments to The Hill were published, Carroll said, "I love that I'm not his type." She described the alleged attack again: Trump pushed her against the dressing room wall and penetrated her as she struggled to get away, eventually escaping. Carroll said she wasn’t surprised that Trump attacked her after she told her story.

"He's denied all 15 women who have come forward," she told CNN. "He denies, he turns it around. He threatens and he attacks."

If Trump’s nonsensical and insulting defense sounds familiar, it’s because it’s not the first time he has denied an assault allegation by calling the accuser unattractive. In 2016, Jessica Leeds accused Trump of groping her when they were sitting next to each other on a plane in the late 1970s. Trump responded by insulting her appearance.

“Yeah, I’m gonna go after her,” he said in a sarcastic tone at a rally. “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.”

Cover: E. Jean Carroll in New York, Sunday, June 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)