NEWS: 6 women accuse Schwarzenegger of harassment over past 30 years
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LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2 — Arnold Schwarzenegger was expected to respond Thursday to allegations by women that he sexually harrassed them. A Schwarzenegger spokesman denied the allegations, and a senior aide for the California gubernatorial candidate accused Gov. Gray Davis’ team of orchestrating the allegations, which were reported in The Los Angeles Times. Schwarzenegger, ahead in the latest polling, was making several campaign stops Thursday.
SIX WOMEN accused the Republican action star of groping them on movie sets and in other settings over the last three decades, the Times reported Thursday.
The Times said it interviewed the women over the last seven weeks during an investigation into whether Schwarzenegger harassed women. None of the women approached the newspaper on her own or has filed legal action against the actor.
Schwarzenegger spokesman Sean Walsh denied the allegations in comments to the Times, saying “we believe Democrats and others are using this to try to hurt Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign.”
A senior adviser to the Schwarzenegger campaign was more specific, accusing the Davis team and telling NBC News that they will “push back.” The aide described some of the women as not being reliable sources and that much of what was reported in the article was “movie-set rowdiness.”
“Welcome to the end of the Davis campaign,” the adviser said on condition of anonymity.
Schwarzenegger himself intends to respond to the allegations during a campaign stop Thursday, NBC News has learned.
BLUEPRINT OFFERED
The allegations come as momentum has been building for the Schwarzenegger camp, with a new poll showing the actor with a big lead over all other candidates.
In a show of confidence Wednesday, Schwarzenegger offered a blueprint for his first 100 days in office, repeating promises to repeal the tripling of the state car tax and to have the budget audited.
“We are ready to take office,” he told a crowd of about 400 supporters. “We are ready to take action. We are ready to return California to the people.”
The actor repeated a number of pledges made earlier in his campaign. On his first day in office, he said, he would repeal the tripling of the state car tax, then move to have the state budget audited and call a special session of the Legislature to deal with spending cuts.
He said he also intends to seek a percentage of Indian casino revenue and renegotiate state employee union contracts.
LATEST POLLING
The address came a day after a new Los Angeles Times poll showed Schwarzenegger had support from 40 percent of likely voters. Democrat Lt. Gov. Bustamante had 32 percent and Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock 15 percent.
McClintock, who has promised to remain in the race despite urging from some Republicans to drop out, said he would support Schwarzenegger’s efforts in Sacramento if the actor won the election.
“I actually personally like the guy,” McClintock said in Thursday’s Los Angeles Times. “But I am very skeptical of the team he has surrounded himself with.”
The poll also showed the effort to oust Davis succeeding, 56 percent to 42 percent. That marked a shift from a Sept. 12 Times poll that had support for the recall stalling, with 50 percent of voters supporting it and 47 percent opposed.
The earlier poll also had Bustamante leading with 30 percent to Schwarzenegger’s 25 percent. McClintock had 18 percent.
The pollsters interviewed 815 likely voters from Sept. 25-29 and the sampling error margin was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Schwarzenegger’s surge came after an aggressive performance at last week’s debate and the withdrawal of former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth, another moderate Republican. Schwarzenegger also has aired millions of dollars of ads over the past several weeks.
HUFFINGTON JOINS DAVIS
Davis appeared Wednesday with retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a presidential candidate and the latest high-profile Democrat to visit California in support of the governor.
He later appeared with his newest convert, independent Arianna Huffington, who dropped out of the race Tuesday but promised to work with Davis to defeat the recall and keep Schwarzenegger out of office.
Meanwhile, both the Davis and Schwarzenegger camps were planning major events to rally last-minute support.
Former President Clinton was expected to return to the state to campaign for Davis on Thursday, the same day Schwarzenegger planned to depart on a four-day bus tour beginning in San Diego.
Schwarzenegger’s trip will take him up through the Bay Area, and is to culminate in a march on the Capitol on Sunday.
The bus tour will heavily advertise the candidate’s Hollywood ties. Schwarzenegger will be riding on a bus nicknamed Running Man, the campaign staff on Total Recall, and reporters on buses nicknamed Predator 1 through 3 and True Lies. |
