A former girlfriend of Donald Trump on Monday refuted a New York Times story in which she was featured prominently to depict the likely GOP presidential nominee as sexist and a womanizer.
“They spun it to where it appeared negative. I did not have a negative experience with Donald Trump and I don’t appreciate them making it look like I said it was a negative experience because it was not,” Rowanne Brewer Lane said on Fox News.
Ms. Lane said the newspaper assured her the article would not be a “hit piece,” and she said she was disappointed when she read the final product.
She said that in reality Mr. Trump was “a gentleman.”
“He never made me feel like I was being demeaned in any way. He never offended me in any way. He was very gracious,” said Ms. Lane. “I saw him around all types of people, all types of women. He was very kind, thoughtful, generous.”
The article, which included interviews with more than a dozen women who had business or personal relationships with Mr. Trump, lead off with an anecdote about Ms. Lane meeting the real estate mogul at a pool party at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
At the time, Ms. Lane was a 26-year-old model and Mr. Trump was 44 and in the midst of his first divorce. They went on to date for several months, Ms. Lane said.
“Donald Trump had barely met Rowanne Brewer Lane when he asked her to change out of her clothes,” beings The Times’ article, which was titled “Crossing the line: How Donald Trump behaved with women in private.”
In the article, Ms. Lane recounts how Mr. Trump showed her around the mansion, gave her a bikini to put on and said “wow” when she came out of the bathroom wearing the swimsuit.
“He brought me out to the pool and said, ’That is a stunning Trump girl, isn’t it?’ ” she is quoted as saying.
On Fox News, Ms. Lane said that she was “actually flattered” by Mr. Trump’s remark.
“I didn’t feel it was a demeaning comment or situation at all. That’s what I told The Times and they spun it completely differently,” she said.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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