Trump's Repulsive Response to His Female Accusers Rings of Defamation

WASHINGTON -- Even as the country recoils, justifiably, from the prospect of Donald Trump threatening not to respect the election results, let us not lose sight of the mounting evidence of Trump's mistreatment of women -- and his offensive debate dismissal of their claims.

At the second debate, Trump claimed that his taped boasting about grabbing women without consent was just that -- all talk, no action. In the 10 days before the third debate, nine women came forward to dispute that assertion.

So moderator Chris Wallace posed the key question: "Why would so many different women from so many different circumstances over so many different years ... all make up these stories?"

Trump's response was a characteristically repulsive stew of dishonesty, outright lies, conspiracy theorizing and blame-shifting.

Dishonesty: "Those stories have been largely debunked," he said. Wrong. Actually, additional corroboration has emerged.

Lies: "I did not say that," Trump insisted, three times, after Hillary Clinton noted that part of Trump's argument for his innocence was that the women weren't attractive enough to merit his unwanted attention. Just go to the videotape.

Conspiracy theorizing: "I think they want either fame or her campaign did it. And I think it's her campaign," Trump said of his accusers. There is no evidence on either score. Indeed, a number of the accusers had to be coaxed to come forward. Some are Clinton backers; others are clear that they do not support her.

Blame-shifting: According to Trump, what we should actually be talking about is the violence at his rallies -- instigated by Clinton. Or else, "her emails, where she destroyed 33,000 emails criminally, criminally, after getting a subpoena from the United States Congress." If the debate hall were a courtroom, Trump's answer would have been struck as nonresponsive.

So let's examine the actual evidence. One of the most upsetting stories -- because Trump's alleged behavior interfered with a woman's ability to do her job -- is also one of those with the strongest contemporaneous corroboration.

People magazine reporter Natasha Stoynoff, at Mar-a-Lago in 2005 to report a first-anniversary piece on Donald and Melania Trump, described how Trump pushed her against a wall and tried to kiss her, sticking his tongue down her throat.

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