Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday he doesn’t believe he behaved inappropriately during an interaction with a female reporter that took place 18 years ago and has come under renewed scrutiny.
The allegation was made in an editorial published in the Creston Valley Advance, a newspaper in the West Coast province of British Columbia, in 2000. The editorial was republished in a satirical magazine earlier this year and later circulated on social media.
The editorial, which wasn’t signed, accused Trudeau of “groping” a young female reporter and said Trudeau had apologized for his behavior that day after learning the reporter was also writing for another newspaper with a larger circulation. The editorial didn’t provide further details of the incident.
Asked about the matter during a public appearance in Toronto on Thursday, Trudeau said he didn’t believe he had acted inappropriately. “I’ve been reflecting very carefully on what I remember from that incident almost 20 years ago and again, I am…I feel I am confident that I did not act inappropriately.”
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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