Former Fox News Host Courtney Friel Alleges Trump Once Tried to Convince Her to Kiss Him

Former Fox News host Courtney Friel claims in her new book that President Donald Trump once tried to convince her to kiss him during an awkward phone call, according to the The New York Daily News.

Friel, 39, claims that Trump, 73, dubbed her “the hottest one at Fox News” and called her office in 2010 after she expressed interest in being a judge for his Miss U.S.A. beauty pageant, the Daily News, who reviewed an advanced portion of her upcoming book Tonight At 10: Kicking Booze and Breaking News, reported.

According to the Daily News, Friel alleges that Trump was asking about her career goals before he said, “You should come up to my office sometime, so we can kiss. Friel claims that she reminded him they were both married and “quickly ended the call.”

“This proposition made it difficult for me to report with a straight face on Trump running for president,” she writes in the book, the outlet reported. “It infuriated me that he would call all the women who shared stories of his bold advances liars. I totally believe them.”

Friel appeared on Fox & Friends and worked with the news network for six years before joining KTLA in Los Angeles in 2013.

The White House did not immediately respond to comment on Friel’s memoir.

Friel told PEOPLE in a statement, “Writing a book like this is somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster but also therapeutic. I think what kept me going was knowing there are other people who could benefit from my experiences. It was important to me to be completely transparent and honest; I wanted to show the good, the bad and the ugly. If just one person is inspired to get sober, the whole thing will have been worth it.”

President Trump has been accused by dozens of women of sexual misconduct since the 1980s. In October 2016, PEOPLE reporter Natasha Stoynoff shared her own harrowing story of being physically attacked by Trump in late 2005. Trump has never been criminally charged for any of the allegations, and civil lawsuits against him that allege harassment have all been settled or are pending. (Trump has denied her allegation and similar claims by the other women.)

Stoynoff’s account came soon after a tape was released that featured a recorded conversation between Trump and former Today host Billy Bush in which Trump brags about how he forcibly kisses and gropes women.

“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait,” Trump said in the tape. “And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything.”

“Grab them by the p—y,” he added. “You can do anything.”