Arnold denies latest sexual allegations

MERCED, Calif. — Arnold Schwarzenegger went on the attack Saturday, denouncing the latest sexual harassment allegations made against him as untrue and charging that all of the 11th-hour accusations were intended to wreck his campaign for governor.

The Austrian-born candidate, also accused of expressing admiration for Adolf Hitler nearly 30 years ago, received support from a leader of a Jewish human rights organization and the man who trained the teenage Schwarzenegger as a bodybuilder, both of whom said the actor has championed tolerance.

The Democratic National Committee issued a resolution Saturday calling on Schwarzenegger to apologize for the alleged Hitler remarks. The Republican gubernatorial front-runner dismissed the move as "sleaze politics" and said for the third consecutive day that he despises Hitler.

During a stop near Clovis on Day 3 of his bus trip across the state, Schwarzenegger denied the harassment allegations.

"The last accusations that I read today are absolutely untrue. They're trying to torpedo my campaign. They're trying to make me look bad out there so that people vote no," Schwarzenegger said.

"Why has this not come out before?" he said of allegations by 11 women that he groped or sexually harassed them.

"Why have they not called me? Why has no one said, 'Arnold, you went too far.' If someone said this to me, I would apologize immediately."

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney canceled his plans to campaign Monday for the actor, saying he still supports Schwarzenegger but wanted to avoid "sideshow politics" surrounding Tuesday's gubernatorial recall election.

Meanwhile, Gov. Gray Davis flew around the state with several big-name Democrats in a final effort to persuade people to vote no on the recall. Recent polls showed more than 50 percent of likely voters want him removed from office.

The other leading candidates to replace Davis, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock, were also making appearances.

Much of the focus remained on the front-runner Schwarzenegger, however, after the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that six women claimed he groped or sexually harassed them between 1975 and 2000.

After the story was published, five other women came forward to report similar incidents, including two who said Friday the actor harassed them on the set of the 1988 film "Twins."