Trump holds press conference with 3 women who accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault

The gloves are off.

An hour before the second presidential debate with Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump appeared at a press conference flanked by three women who accuse former President Bill Clinton of sexual assaulting them.

Alleged victims Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick, and Kathleen Willey appeared with the Republican nominee to express their support for Trump as he attempts to shift the focus from his leaked comments about his ability to freely sexually assault women to the alleged assaults of Clinton’s husband and her role in them. 

In 1991, Paula Jones accused Bill Clinton of exposing himself to her in a hotel room in Little Rock, Arkansas, and propositioning her for sex. Jones sued Clinton, who settled for $850,000.

Broaddrick accused Bill Clinton of raping her in 1978, an accusation she first made in a 1994 Dateline NBC interview. The White House denied the accusation at the time.

Willey said in 1998 that Bill Clinton grabbed her and tried to kiss her. 

The women were also joined alongside Trump by Kathy Shelton, who was raped as a 12-year-old and whom Hillary Clinton defended as a public defender. 

The women say Clinton, the Democratic nominee, enabled her husband’s alleged sexual assaults. All four will be in the audience for Sunday night’s debate.

After the short press conference, Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, was quick to highlight Clinton’s assertion that victims of sexual assault all deserve to be heard.

In an August poll, 62 percent of respondents said Trump should not use Bill Clinton’s past against the Democratic nominee.

The second presidential debate starts at 9pm ET.