Trump says he would not be stupid enough to sexually assault a woman in public

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has lashed out at one of the 19 women who had accused him of sexual assault or abuse — calling her a liar after she again detailed her story in the media.

“A woman I don’t know and, to the best of my knowledge, never met, is on the FRONT PAGE of the Fake News Washington Post saying I kissed her (for two minutes yet) in the lobby of Trump Tower 12 years ago. Never happened! Who would do this in a public space with live security cameras running,” he wrote in one of a pair of tweets taking aim at Rachel Crooks, 35.

Ms Crooks has accused Mr Trump of forcibly kissing her at Trump Tower in 2006, when he was 59 and she was 22.

“Another False Accusation. Why doesn’t @washingtonpost report the story of the women taking money to make up stories about me? One had her home mortgage paid off. Only @FoxNews so reported … doesn’t fit the Mainstream Media narrative,” Trump griped in the latest in a string of furious tweets that began Saturday night and continued through Tuesday morning.

According to the New York Post, what sparked the US president’s rage was a lengthy story in Tuesday’s Washington Post that recounted not only Ms Crooks’ accusations but those of the many other women who have accused him of sexual misbehavior.

It also explores how Mr Trump — in the midst of the #MeToo movement — has escaped consequences despite the cascade of allegations as well as the infamous Access Hollywood tape in which he luridly boasts about grabbing women by the genitals and forcibly kissing them.

Ms Crooks said that she met Mr Trump in the lobby of his eponymous building, where she worked as a secretary for another company, and introduced herself.

“He took hold of my hand and held me in place. He started kissing me on one cheek, then the other cheek. He was talking to me in between kisses, asking where I was from, or if I wanted to be a model. He wouldn’t let go of my hand, and then he went right in and started kissing me on the lips,” Ms Crooks said.

“It felt like a long kiss. The whole thing probably lasted two minutes, maybe less.”

Emails she sent family at the time alluded to the incident.

“I must just appear to be some dumb girl that he can take advantage of … ugh!” she wrote her sister that same afternoon.

“Ah yes, the Donald kiss … very creepy man, let me tell you!” she messaged another relative a couple days later.

After Mr Trump announced he would run for president, Ms Crooks and his other accusers told their stories on TV, in newspapers and other media — but to little apparent effect on the president’s popularity, at least among his base, leaving her frustrated.

“I am not sure I’ve changed one person’s mind,” she told the paper.

Beginning Saturday, Mr Trump has unleashed his anger on Twitter, attacking usual suspects such as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Democrats, the FBI and accusations of his campaign’s collusion with Russia.

But he also slammed Oprah Winfrey, his own national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, and now Ms Crooks.

The president has been rocked by a pair of lurid reports in the past few weeks: the admission from his lawyer Michael Cohen that Cohen had paid hush money to porn vixen Stormy Daniels, and reports that another Trump ally had paid a Playboy Playmate of the Year to clam up about her alleged affair with Mr Trump.

Ms Crooks went public during the 2016 election and late last year announced that she would be running for office in Ohio’s state legislature. The 35-year-old Democrat has said she was inspired to run partly because her voice wasn’t heard when she accused candidate Trump in October 2016 of kissing her without her consent.