In an exclusive interview with The Hill, the US president denied the allegations just hours after Carroll detailed the alleged incident during a cable news interview.
“I’ll say it with great respect: Number one, she’s not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?” the president said.
Carroll, a longtime advice columnist for Elle magazine, said on CNN that Trump “just went at it” when he allegedly cornered her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman City during fall 1995 or spring 1996, adding that “he pulled down my tights, and it was a fight.” She accused him of pushing her against a wall in a dressing room and kissing her before pulling down her tights and raping her for “no more than three minutes.” Explaining why she didn’t come forward until now, Carroll wrote about the retribution and dismissal she expected to receive and called herself “a coward.” She also added that she does not plan to file a criminal complaint.
Trump denied the allegations in a statement that day and then again while speaking with reporters on Saturday, saying that he had never met her.
“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, nonetheless, still insists on the truth of her accusations, noting that she “love[s] that I’m not his type” when responding to his comments and pointing out that he has denied all the accusations from women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.
Carroll's account of the alleged incident was detailed in an excerpt of her forthcoming book published Friday afternoon in New York Magazine. The excerpt included a photo that identified Carroll, Trump, his then-wife, Ivana Trump, and Carroll's then-husband, John Johnson, attending the same party around 1987. Trump dismissed the photo, noting that he was standing with his back to the camera and had no idea who she was.
