Sarah Sanders defends Trump after attack on Gillibrand

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has defended United States President Donald Trump's recent Twitter attack on Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and claimed it was not sexist at all.

Trump, hours before, had responded to Gillibrand's call for the president to step down after several women on Tuesday accused him of sexual abuse.

"Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a total flunky for Chuck Schumer and someone who would come to my office 'begging' for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them), is now in the ring fighting against Trump. Very disloyal to Bill & Crooked-USED!" he had tweeted.

At Tuesday's press briefing, Sanders was asked to explain what Trump meant when he said that Gillibrand "would do anything" for a campaign contribution and if this contained any contained sexual innuendo.

"It's clear that the president is very obvious. This is the same sentiment the president has expressed many times before when he has exposed corruption of the entire political system," she said.

Sanders added, "There's no way that this is sexist at all. Only if your mind is in the gutter would you have read it that way."

When probed about Trump's tweet that said he didn't know his accusers, Sanders said, "The president was referencing the three individuals that were part of the press conference yesterday."

This episode comes in the backdrop of three women who previously had accused Trump of sexual harassment shared their stories in an interview on NBC and at a press conference in New York.

The women - Jessica Leeds, Samantha Holvey and Rachel Crooks - urged Congress to investigate Trump's behaviour.