A woman has stepped forward to accuse President Donald Trump of trying to give her an unwanted kiss 12 years ago.
Former Fox News host Juliet Huddy said, via Page Six, that Trump tried to kiss her on the lips after they had lunch at Trump Tower in 2005. Huddy told a radio show on compoundmedia.com that she rejected his advances.
“He took me for lunch at Trump Tower, just us two,” Huddy said. “He said goodbye to me in an elevator while his security guy was there. Rather than kiss me on the cheek he leaned in to kiss me on the lips. I wasn’t offended, I was kind of like, ‘Oh my God’ … And everything was copacetic after that …
“I was surprised that he went for the lips. But I didn’t feel threatened … he took me out to lunch to talk about maybe me doing something with The Apprentice. He used to watch Fox & Friends, the show I was hosting on the weekend. Whatever, everything was fine. It was a weird moment. He never tried anything after that, and I was never alone with him.”
In his infamous “grab them by the pussy” tape, Trump told Billy Bush, “You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful—I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything.”
Huddy, who previously won a sexual harassment settlement from Bill O’Reilly, said she never felt helpless against Trump, who married Melania in 2005.
Re: @PageSix story: Yes, it's true. And though I'm offended by his comments on 'other matters' – as I said on @77WABCradio & @BillSchulz's show yesterday – I was neither threatened nor offended in elevator. End of story. Now, plz let me get back to @TheCrownNetflix.
— Juliet Huddy (@JetSetJuliet) December 9, 2017
But she said she was upset when Trump defended O’Reilly against her and the other women who said the former Fox News star harassed them.
“I’ve seen him [Trump] many times over the years and he’s always been nice…” she said. “When all the stuff came out about Bill O’Reilly, Donald Trump was one of the people who said, ‘I don’t believe this happened and I don’t believe he did it’… I was actually very disappointed in Trump, I thought, ‘You know what, fuck you.’ He [Trump] has met me a bunch of times and he knows I am not [a liar].”
She also said Trump joked about the incident in later years when he was a guest on her Fox News morning talking show.
“He said to the audience and producers, not on camera, ‘I tried hitting on her but she blew me off,’” Huddy said. “He was laughing. At the time, I was not offended by it. I thought he was a single man and leaned in for a kiss … Maybe he thought, ‘She’s been out to lunch with me and maybe she is interested.’
“Now I have matured I think I would say, ‘Woah, no.’ But at the time, I was younger and I was a little shocked. I thought maybe he didn’t mean to do it, but I was kind of making excuses.”
H/T the Hill