Responding to allegations that he groped a female news reporter, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday said he could not recall the incident.

Mr. Trudeau, a self-described feminist, said he could not remember “any negative interactions” while at a charity festival in 2000, where a young female journalist claims he groped her.

“I had a good day that day. I don’t remember any negative interactions that day at all,” the prime minister told reporters in Regina, Canada.

Mr. Trudeau was first accused of sexual harassment in 2000 unsigned newspaper editorial in the Creston Valley Advance following the festival in Creston, British Columbia, to raise money for avalanche safety.

The editorial accused Mr. Trudeau of “inappropriately ‘handling’ the reporter” and said the young woman was “blatantly disrespected.”

According to the editorial, Mr. Trudeau told the woman at the time, “I’m sorry. If I had known you were reporting for a national paper, I never would have been so forward.”

The editorial garnered fresh attention when it was posted last month on Twitter.

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