A New York Times report detailing two women's claims that Donald Trump groped and kissed them against their will could end up playing into the GOP presidential nominee's hands, Rep. Pete King said Thursday.

"I think in some ways it plays into Donald Trump's hands, that the establishment is out to get him, the media is out to get him, and he's not getting a fair shake," the New York Republican told Fox News' Bill Hemmer on the "America's Newsroom" program. "After a while, these charges can just end up being so cumulative, that people will disregard them."

Trump has rejected the Times' story as false and is threatening to sue the newspaper for libel. Several other women have also told media outlets about their alleged run-ins with Trump, however, including People Magazine writer Natasha Stoynoff, who wrote that she was doing an interview in December 2005 with Trump and his wife Melania, when he allegedly cornered her in one of the rooms at the couple's Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida and forcibly kissed her.

King also on Thursday criticized Republicans for panicking after a tape of Trump was released last week revealing him making explicit comments about women to "Access Hollywood" host Billy Bush.

"I understand why Donald Trump was angry," he said. "He had come off a big debate, he had done very well, he had stopped the bleeding, and then he sees Republicans walking away from him."