Legendary advice columnist E. Jean Carroll accused Donald Trump of raping her in the dressing room of a New York City department store some 23 years ago, joining more than a dozen women who have previously come forward with allegations of Trump's sexual misconduct.

Carroll — who said that Trump attacked her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room, pulled down her tights, and "thrust his penis" in her — detailed the alleged incident in her upcoming book, What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal, an excerpt of which was published in the Cut on Friday. She also accused several other men of attacking her over the course of her life, including disgraced former CBS CEO Les Moonves.

The president and the White House have repeatedly denied previous allegations of Trump's sexual misconduct and dismissed his accusers as politically motivated liars. Trump has rejected claims that he was ever inappropriate with women, despite a bombshell 2005 Access Hollywood tape in which he was heard bragging about kissing women and grabbing them "by the pussy."



In a statement to New York Magazine, the White House called Carroll's allegations "a completely false and unrealistic story surfacing 25 years after allegedly taking place," adding that "it was created simply to make the President look bad."

Later Friday evening, Trump released his own lengthy statement, denying that he had ever met the writer, despite a photo published by the Cut showing Trump and Carroll speaking at a party. Trump accused the writer of fabricating the entire encounter "to sell a new book" and carry out a "political agenda."

"That should indicate her motivation. It should be sold in the fiction section," the president said. "Shame on those who make up false stories of assault to try to get publicity...like Julie Swetnick who falsely accused Justice Brett Kavanaugh. It’s just as bad for people to believe it, particularly when there is zero evidence. Worse still for a dying publication to try to prop itself up by peddling fake news—it’s an epidemic."



Trump then stated that those who make false accusations "diminish the severity of real assault" and insinuated without evidence that the Democratic Party might be working with Carroll to help tarnish the president's reputation, declaring: "The world should know what’s really going on. It is a disgrace and people should pay dearly for such false accusations.”

Carroll did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News' request for comment.



Carroll, 75, wrote that she never came forward with her allegations against Trump until now for fear of "receiving death threats, being driven from my home, being dismissed, being dragged through the mud, and joining the 15 women who’ve come forward with credible stories about how the man grabbed, badgered, belittled, mauled, molested, and assaulted them, only to see the man turn it around, deny, threaten, and attack them."