Mike Segar/Reuters
Jess Cagle, the editor-in-chief of People magazine, fired back at Donald Trump on Thursday after he called into question a People reporter’s account of the Republican presidential nominee making unwanted sexual advances on her in 2005. Natasha Stoynoff wrote on Wednesday night about an encounter she had with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, in which she describes Trump “pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat.” Trump wrote on Twitter Thursday morning that the encounter “did not happen.” In a statement, Cagle said she stands by the magazine’s decision to publish the account. “Ms. Stoynoff is a remarkable, ethical, honest and patriotic woman, and she has shared her story of being physically attacked by Donald Trump in 2005 because she felt it was her duty to make the public aware,” Cagle said. “To assign any other motive is a disgusting, pathetic attempt to victimize her again.” After other news organizations, including the New York Times, published similar allegations by various women on Wednesday night, Trump surrogates accused the women of simply seeking fame.