Rachel Crooks says she is “not surprised” that President Donald Trump called her a liar.
“I mean, that’s not the first time,” Crooks said in an interview that aired Tuesday on “CNN Tonight.”
Crooks says Trump kissed her without her consent when she was working as a receptionist in Trump Tower. Now, more than a decade later, she has decided to run for state office in Ohio.
Trump denied Crooks’ accusation in a tweet on Tuesday, following a story in The Washington Post that detailed her account.
“A woman I don’t know and, to the best of my knowledge, never met, is on the FRONT PAGE of the Fake News Washington Post saying I kissed her (for two minutes yet) in the lobby of Trump Tower 12 years ago. Never happened! Who would do this in a public space with live security … cameras running. Another False Accusation. Why doesn’t @washingtonpost report the story of the women taking money to make up stories about me? One had her home mortgage paid off. Only @FoxNews so reported…doesn’t fit the Mainstream Media narrative,” he tweeted.
At least 15 women have come forward with a wide range of accusations against Trump, ranging from sexual harassment and sexual assault to lewd behavior around women. Of the women, 13 say Trump attacked them directly and two others say they witnessed behavior that made them uncomfortable. All the alleged incidents took place prior to his assuming the presidency. Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations.
“It is the first time, I guess, he’s attacked me personally on Twitter, but his whole approach to this has been to deny the allegation of myself and, like you said, almost 20 women who have come forward. So it’s not surprising,” Crooks told CNN’s Don Lemon. “But I would think as our President he would have more important things to do than tweet at me and try to discredit my story. I know what’s true, he knows what’s true and I think he should be afraid of that.”