NEW YORK _ President Donald Trump gave a reason on Monday why he wouldn't have raped advice columnist E. Jean Carroll _ "she's not my type."
"I'll say it with great respect: No. 1, she's not my type. No. 2, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" the president said in an interview with The Hill.
Carroll accused Trump of sexually assaulting her more than two decades ago at a glitzy Manhattan department store in an excerpt from her new book that was published Friday in New York magazine.
Carroll joined more than a dozen women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct. She said she told two friends at the time, and they both confirmed her account of the attack to the magazine.
Trump told The Hill that Carroll was "totally lying."
He also repeated his claim that he did know of Carroll, despite the existence of a photo of them together. Regarding the photo, he said, "Standing with coat on in a line _ give me a break _ with my back to the camera. I have no idea who she is."
Trump had previously said in a statement Friday that Carroll was "trying to sell a new book _ that should indicate her motivation. It should be sold in the fiction section."
Trump also suggested in the statement that Carroll's allegation was politically motivated. The president said, "If anyone has information that the Democratic Party is working with Ms. Carroll or New York Magazine, please notify us as soon as possible."
Carroll said she spoke out because she was tired of the lack of response to previous accusations made against the president. "I'm sick of it," she told CNN.
The columnist also responded to Trump's remark that she wasn't his type.
"I love that I'm not his type," Carroll told CNN.
