greensboro, n.c.<u+2014> donald trump rejected fresh claims of past sexual misconduct, capping off a week in which his campaign has been ensnared in a series of charges and countercharges about his treatment of women. mr. trump on friday again had to fend off allegations by women that he kissed, grabbed or touched them without consent <u+2014>this time from a former contestant on mr. trump<u+2019>s reality-tv show <u+201c>the apprentice<u+201d> as well as a woman who says she met him at a new york city nightclub in the early 1990s. he has denied the allegations, and went further by claiming they emerge from a large conspiracy designed to doom his campaign. <u+201c>this whole thing is one big fix,<u+201d> the republican presidential nominee said at a rally here. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s one big, ugly lie. it<u+2019>s one big fix.<u+201d> he characterized the charges of sexual misconduct as an indication that <u+201c>this whole election is being rigged.<u+201d> he added: <u+201c>these lies spread by the media, without witnesses, without backup or anything else, are poisoning the minds of the electorate. no witnesses, no backup or anything else.<u+201d> mr. trump<u+2019>s fiery denunciation of both the accusations and the media outlets that carry them suggest he plans for now to respond with full force. but he also faces broader questions about how he and his campaign can move beyond the current discussion about his treatment of women<u+2014>and specifically how he intends to handle the issue when it arises in the third and final presidential debate next wednesday. by day<u+2019>s end, he suggested in a statement that he would try to turn the conversation to <u+201c>how together we fight to bring back american jobs and defend our country against radical islamic terrorism.<u+201d> but the controversy is taking a toll on mr. trump<u+2019>s standing in polls, and any pivot away from the topic will be difficult if new accusations surface. as friday unfolded, mr. trump faced two new women making claims he had touched them sexually without consent. one woman, summer zervos, the former <u+201c>apprentice<u+201d> candidate, said at a los angeles press conference that he had kissed her aggressively and touched her sexually at a meeting in a hotel in 2007. the second woman, identified by the washington post as kristin anderson, told the paper that mr. trump had put his hand under her skirt in a manhattan club. the paper said it talked to several people who said ms. anderson had told them of the alleged incident at the time or in the years afterward. at the time, ms. anderson was an aspiring model. mr. trump denied the accusations of both women. in a written statement, he said he remembered ms. zervos as a contestant but denied that he met her at a hotel or acted inappropriately. <u+201c>that is not who i am as a person, and it is not how i<u+2019>ve conducted my life,<u+201d> he wrote. mr. trump specifically addressed one accusation that has arisen this week, that he groped a woman, businesswoman jessica leeds, on an airplane more than three decades ago. he said the allegation was untrue, suggesting he didn<u+2019>t find the woman attractive. <u+201c>believe me, she would not be my first choice. that i can tell you. you don<u+2019>t know, that would not be my first choice,<u+201d> he said. mr. trump also addressed allegations from natasha stoynoff, a people magazine writer who said mr. trump forcibly kissed her during an interview more than a decade ago. <u+201c>these people are sick,<u+201d> mr. trump said. <u+201c>the reason she didn<u+2019>t write it 12 years ago is very simple, it never happened. never happened.<u+201d> democrat hillary clinton, her campaign and campaign surrogates, including president barack obama and first lady michelle obama, have been responding with pointed attacks, and those continued friday. <u+201c>the whole world has heard how donald trump brags about mistreating women, and the disturbing stories keep coming,<u+201d> mrs. clinton said. <u+201c>and it<u+2019>s not only women. there<u+2019>s a long list...this is who donald trump really is. we know that. now we have to demonstrate who we are. america is better than this.<u+201d> those women, along with others who came forward with allegations earlier in the week, emerged after the release of a 2005 videotape of mr. trump bragging about groping women without their consent. <u+201c>when you<u+2019>re a star, they let you do anything,<u+201d> mr. trump said in the tape. mr. trump has since dismissed his remarks as <u+201c>locker room<u+201d> banter and said it didn<u+2019>t reflect actual behavior. he also said in a presidential debate sunday night that he had never engaged in unwanted advances on women<u+2014>a statement that appears to have spurred some of his accusers to step forward. mr. trump spent the bulk of his rally here, in a state where the latest polling shows mrs. clinton with a slight lead, arguing that the women accusing him of touching them without consent are part of an international conspiracy that includes mexican billionaire carlos slim, the new york times , which published the first reports this week of women accusing misconduct, and the rest of the american media. a spokesman for mr. slim denied mr. trump<u+2019>s accusations, saying they aren<u+2019>t interfering with the u.s. election. the times said it stood by its reporting and declined a demand from a lawyer for mr. trump to remove the story. <u+201c>carlos slim is an excellent shareholder who fully respects boundaries regarding the independence of our journalism,<u+201d> said new york times publisher arthur sulzberger jr. on thursday. <u+201c>he has never sought to influence what we report.<u+201d> the 2005 recording and accusations of unwanted sexual contact appear to be taking a toll on mr. trump<u+2019>s support. in particular, women and independent voters appear to be moving away from mr. trump<u+2019>s candidacy. in a fox news survey conducted this week, mrs. clinton led among women by 19 points, up from 10 points a week earlier. mr. trump<u+2019>s 6-point lead among independents narrowed into a tie. overall, mrs. clinton lead in the new survey by 7 points among likely voters, compared with a 2-point lead a week earlier. meanwhile, the clinton campaign said it was dispatching its top female surrogates to battleground states this weekend and is working to emphasize <u+201c>the troubling accusations against donald trump and his degrading comments.<u+201d> the clinton campaign said it planned hundreds of events this weekend to contact female voters. this weekend, battleground-state campaigns plan women-to-women phone banks, canvasses, voter registration drives and <u+201c>get out the early vote<u+201d> events all focused on women. <u+2014>sara randazzo contributed to this article. write to reid j. epstein at reid.epstein@wsj.com
donald trump fends off new sexual misconduct claims, calling allegations a conspiracy  - wsj
reid j. epstein