Trump tweeted this a few moments ago:
The phony story in the failing @nytimes is a TOTAL FABRICATION. Written by same people as last discredited story on women. WATCH!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2016
Why didn't the writer of the twelve year old article in People Magazine mention the "incident" in her story. Because it did not happen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2016
Even Morning Joe says we should remain skeptical of the timing of this drop:
Joe says he’s not skeptical of the allegations, but rather of the timing of this dropping less than a month from the election. It sounds like he believes this is a coordinated attack on Trump.
Honestly these allegations are easy to believe. I honestly don’t know whether or not they are true and I agree with Joe that this is probably a coordinated attack on Trump right before the election to sway public opinion against him.
But if they are true, then why would Trump ever run a campaign for president knowing this stuff was out there? Is his ego so big that he didn’t think these women would come forward? If that’s the case, he certainly isn’t as ‘media smart’ as he wants people to believe.
UPDATE: The writer of the 12 year old article in People Magazine explains why she didn’t write about it then:
Back in my Manhattan office the next day, I went to a colleague and told her everything.
“We need to go to the managing editor,” she said, “And we should kill this story, it’s a lie. Tell me what you want to do.”
But, like many women, I was ashamed and blamed myself for his transgression. I minimized it (“It’s not like he raped me…”); I doubted my recollection and my reaction. I was afraid that a famous, powerful, wealthy man could and would discredit and destroy me, especially if I got his coveted PEOPLE feature killed.
“I just want to forget it ever happened,” I insisted. The happy anniversary story hit newsstands a week later and Donald left me a voicemail at work, thanking me.
“I think you’re terrific,” he said, “the article was great and you’re great.”
Yeah, I thought. I’m great because I kept my mouth shut.