Debate #3 Vol. 5: Trump Claims Sexual Assault Charges Have Been “Largely Debunked”

Candidates Hillary Clinton And Donald Trump Hold Third Presidential Debate At The University Of NevadaWhen Donald Trump was inevitably asked about the multiple sexual assault allegations that have surfaced since the last debate, Trump denied all charges. He claimed that the charges had been mostly proven false, before accusing Hillary Clinton and President Obama of being behind the women coming forward.

DONALD TRUMP: Well, first of all, those stories have been largely debunked. Those people, I don’t know those people. I have a feeling how they came. I believe it was her campaign that did it just like if you look at what came out today on the clips where I was wondering what happened with my rally in Chicago and other rallies where we had such violence. She’s the one and Obama that caused the violence. They hired people. They paid them $1500, and they’re on tape saying be violent, cause fights, do bad things. I would say the only way — because those stories are all totally false. I have to say that, and I didn’t even apologize to my wife who is sitting right here because I didn’t do anything. I didn’t know any of these women. I didn’t see these women. These women, the woman on the plane, the woman on the – I think they want either fame or her campaign did it. And I think it’s her campaign because what I saw what they did, which is a criminal act, by the way, where they’re telling people to go out and start fistfights and start violence — and I’ll tell you what. In particular, in Chicago, people were hurt and people could have killed in that riot. And that’s now all on tape started by her. I believe, Chris, she got these people to step forward. If it wasn’t, they get their ten minutes of fame, but they were all totally — it was all fiction. It was lies and it was fiction.

Trump has not provided any evidence that Clinton hired nearly a dozen women to accuse him of the exact type of sexual assault that he bragged about on the Access Hollywood video. We’ll leave that wild accusation as “unsubstantiated” instead of outright false.

What about Trump’s assertion that these claims have largely been “debunked?”

Five of the nine women that have accused Trump have not had any part of their stories “debunked.” They are Rachel Crooks, Jill Harth, Cassandra Searles, Temple McDowell and Kristen Anderson. There is no evidence that their stories are made up, other than Trump’s fervent denials.

Trump may be referring to Jessica Leeds, the woman who accused Trump of groping her on a plane in the late 70s. A lot of credence was given to a theory that the armrests in the plane did not move like she described. They almost certainly moved. There was an eyewitness that Trump has pointed to named Anthony Gilberthorpe. He claimed Leeds was being flirtatious, not Trump. Gilberthorpe has not provided evidence to back his claims up.

Summer Zevos claimed Trump groped her on a golf course in 2005. He claimed that he never met her, and yet she still yearly send him an invite to her restaurant. Still no evidence, it is Trump’s word against hers.

While there is little physical evidence to back up the claims of the accusers, there is little evidence to back up Trump’s denials either. It is definitely a lie for Trump to claim that the accusations against him have been “largely debunked.”

Sources:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/oct/20/donald-trump/donald-trump-says-reports-sexual-assault-him-have-/
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/oct/19/fact-checks-third-presidential-debate-running-stor/

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