Former Fox News reporter says she rejected Trump's sexual advance

Courtney Friel
(Image credit: Michael Buckner/Getty Images)

Former Fox News reporter and occasional Fox & Friends host Courtney Friel writes in a new memoir that before he was president, Donald Trump told her she was "the hottest one at Fox News" and during one call, "out of nowhere, he said: 'You should come up to my office sometime, so we can kiss,'" according to an excerpt of the book shared with the New York Daily News. Friel writes she was "shocked" by the come-on and said no: "'Donald,' I responded, 'I believe we're both married.' I quickly ended the call."

Friel, now an anchor at KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, said Trump's "proposition made it difficult for me to report with a straight face on Trump running for president," the Daily News reports. "It infuriated me that he would call all the women who shared stories of his bold advances liars. I totally believe them. ... At least now I can joke that I could have banged the president — but I passed." You can read more about Friel's upcoming book, Tonight At 10: Kicking Booze and Breaking News, at the Daily News.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.