Donald Trump accused his opponent of orchestrating a smear campaign as he dismissed a long list of sexual assault allegations against him as “totally false” during the final presidential debate Wednesday.
“I didn’t even apologize to my wife, who’s sitting right here, because I didn’t do anything,” he said. “I think they want either fame or her campaign did it and I think it’s her campaign.”
Since the last debate, several women have accused Trump of inappropriately touching or kissing them without consent in incidents spanning decades. The accusations began after the Washington Post published a leaked 2005 conversation in which Trump made lewd comments about women, boasting about groping them. Asked at the second debate whether he had actually ever kissed or groped women without consent, Trump said he had not, dismissing his lewd comments as “locker room talk.”
Several of Trump’s accusers said they decided to share their accounts of his sexual misconduct because of his denial during the debate. Trump has vehemently denied the accusations, characterizing them as “outright lies” and attacking the appearance and credibility of his accusers.