This week, six women came forward with specific allegations of sexual assault against Donald Trump, adding their voices to a growing chorus of women who say they were violated by the Republican presidential nominee. And with more women reportedly preparing to come forward tomorrow, it’s anyone’s guess what number—if any—will be the one that finally breaks Katrina Pierson.
The outpour began Friday, when the Washington Post published footage of Donald Trump talking with Access Hollywood host Billy Bush about sexually assaulting women on the strength of his celebrity. “I grab ‘em right by the pussy,” Trump said, telling Bush he liked to carry Tic Tacs with him in case he felt like forcibly kissing someone.
“I’ve got to use some Tic Tacs, just in case I start kissing her,” Trump said. “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.”
In a subsequent apology video, and again during the second presidential debate, Trump repeatedly referred to the exchange as “locker room talk.”
“This was locker room talk. I’m not proud of it, I apologized to my family. I apologized to the American people. Certainly I’m not proud of it. But this is locker room talk,” Trump said during the debate Sunday, adding, “You know, when we have a world where you have ISIS chopping off heads and frankly drowning people in steel cages, where you have [sniff] wars and horrible, horrible sights all over, where you have so many bad things happening.”
When Anderson Cooper asked if he’d ever done any of those things, Trump replied he had not.
But now a host of women say he did those things and more, often using the exact same methods he bragged about in the so-called locker room chat with Bush.
Jessica Leeds—1980s
The Allegations: Jessica Leeds, 73, told the New York Times in October she met Trump on an airplane “more than three decades ago.” Less than an hour later, the paper reports, he was groping her.
About 45 minutes after takeoff, she recalled, Mr. Trump lifted the armrest and began to touch her.
According to Ms. Leeds, Mr. Trump grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt.
“He was like an octopus,” she told the paper. “His hands were everywhere.” Also: “It was an assault.”
She says she decided to come forward after seeing Trump deny having ever sexually assaulted a woman during the debate.
Trump’s Explanation: The campaign threatened Thursday night to sue the Times for the story, and Trump’s attorneys with the law firm Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP also issued a meaningless letter demanding the paper retract its “libelous article.”
The Times says when asked for comment Tuesday, a “highly agitated” Trump shouted at the reporter, called her a “disgusting human being,” told her, “None of this ever took place,” and added “I don’t do it. I don’t do it. It was locker room talk.”
Katrina Pierson also went on CNN to debunk the claim, an incredible exchange I will not detract from with an attempt to summarize it... just watch it:
Ivana Trump—1989
The Allegations: Ivana alleged in a 1989 deposition, cited in the 1993 book “Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump,” that she had been raped by Trump. The book describes that assault in detail, apparently based on the deposition testimony. In a statement appended to the front of the book, Ivana acknowledged she had used the word while under oath to describe an encounter with Trump, but downplayed its significance.
“During a deposition given by me in connection with my matrimonial case, I stated that my husband had raped me,” the statement said. “I referred to this as a ‘rape,’ but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.”
Last year Ivana said in another statement that the story is “completely without merit.”
Trump’s Explanation: Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations. “It’s obviously false,” Donald Trump reportedly told Newsday in 1993. “It’s incorrect and done by a guy without much talent… He is a guy that is an unattractive guy who is a vindictive and jealous person.”
Jill Harth—1990s
The Allegations: Jill Harth sued Trump in the mid-90s alleging, among other things, that Trump repeatedly groped her during business meetings with her and her husband.
“Basically he name-dropped throughout that dinner, when he wasn’t groping me under the table,” she testified in a 1996 deposition. “Let me just say, this was a very traumatic thing working for him.”
Trump’s Explanation: Trump says Harth was after him romantically, and released recent emails showing that Harth congratulated him on his campaign and thanked him for his help, both personally and professionally.
Kristin Anderson—1990s
The Allegations: Kristin Anderson, the Washington Post reported October 14, says she was at a club with friends in the 1990s when Donald Trump sat down next to her and stuck his hand up her skirt.
Kristin Anderson was deep in conversation with acquaintances at a crowded Manhattan nightspot and did not notice the figure to her right on a red velvet couch — until, she recalls, his fingers slid under her miniskirt, moved up her inner thigh, and touched her vagina through her underwear.
Anderson shoved the hand away, fled the couch and turned to take her first good look at the man who had touched her, she said.
She recognized him as Donald Trump: “He was so distinctive looking — with the hair and the eyebrows. I mean, nobody else has those eyebrows.”
Anderson says she and her friends, some of whom corroborated her account, were “very grossed out and weirded out” and thought, “Okay, Donald is gross. We all know he’s gross. Let’s just move on.”
Trump’s Explanation: “Mr. Trump strongly denies this phony allegation by someone looking to get some free publicity. It is totally ridiculous,” Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told the Post in an emailed statement.
Jane Doe—1994
The Allegations: A suit filed on behalf of a woman who no one seems to be able to get in contact with alleges that Trump raped a then-13-year-old girl at the New York City home of prolific convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump’s Explanation: Advisor Roger Stone calls the lawsuit a hoax, and for once, he may be right.
Temple Taggart—1997
The Allegations: Temple Taggart told the New York Times in May Trump assaulted her when she was 21 and the then-Miss Utah during Trump’s first year owning the Miss USA pageant.
As she recalls it, he introduced himself in an unusually intimate manner.
He kissed me directly on the lips. I thought, “Oh my God, gross.” He was married to Marla Maples at the time. I think there were a few other girls that he kissed on the mouth. I was like “Wow, that’s inappropriate.”
Trump’s Explanation: Pending.
Mindy McGillivray—2003
The Allegations: Mindy McGillivray told the Palm Beach Post in October that Trump groped her during a photoshoot at Mar-a-Lago in 2003.
McGillivray, 36, said she was groped by Trump at Mar-a-Lago 13 years ago. She said she never reported it to authorities.
But her companion that day, photographer Ken Davidoff, vividly remembers when McGillivray pulled him aside moments after the alleged incident and told him, ‘’Donald just grabbed my ass!’’
“This was a pretty good nudge. More of a grab,’’ she told the paper. “It was pretty close to the center of my butt. I was startled. I jumped.”
She says she decided to come forward after seeing Trump deny having ever sexually assaulted a woman during the debate.
Trump’s Explanation: Hope Hicks denied the allegations Wednesday, saying “There is no truth to this whatsoever. This allegation lacks any merit or veracity.”
Rachel Crooks—2005
The Allegations: Rachel Crooks told the New York Times in October she was a 22-year-old receptionist at Bayrock Group, a company located within Trump Tower, when she met Trump on an elevator.
Aware that her company did business with Mr. Trump, she turned and introduced herself. They shook hands, but Mr. Trump would not let go, she said. Instead, he began kissing her cheeks. Then, she said, he “kissed me directly on the mouth.”
It didn’t feel like an accident, she said. It felt like a violation.
She said she decided to come forward after seeing Trump deny having ever sexually assaulted a woman during the debate. “People should know,” she told the paper, “this behavior is pervasive and it is real.”
The Trump Explanation: The Times says when asked for comment Tuesday, a “highly agitated” Trump shouted at the reporter, called her a “disgusting human being,” told her, “None of this ever took place,” and added “I don’t do it. I don’t do it. It was locker room talk.”
Natasha Stoynoff—2005
The Allegations: People writer Natasha Stoynoff interviewed Trump for a story at Mar-a-Lago in 2005. She tells People Magazine he forcibly groped her until his long-time butler interrupted them to warn them Melania was on her way downstairs.
We walked into that room alone, and Trump shut the door behind us. I turned around, and within seconds he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat.
Now, I’m a tall, strapping girl who grew up wrestling two giant brothers. I even once sparred with Mike Tyson. It takes a lot to push me. But Trump is much bigger — a looming figure — and he was fast, taking me by surprise and throwing me off balance. I was stunned. And I was grateful when Trump’s longtime butler burst into the room a minute later, as I tried to unpin myself.
The butler informed us that Melania would be down momentarily, and it was time to resume the interview.
She says he told her: “You know we’re going to have an affair, don’t you?” and, “Have you ever been to Peter Luger’s for steaks? I’ll take you. We’re going to have an affair, I’m telling you.”
The Trump Explanation: Pending.
Cassandra Searles—2013
The Allegations: In a Facebook post posted in June, the former Miss Washington alleged Trump had objectified her onstage, groped her offstage and invited her to his hotel room.
The full Facebook post says:
“Do y’all remember that one time we had to do our onstage introductions, but this one guy treated us like cattle and made us do it again because we didn’t look him in the eyes? Do you also remember when he then proceeded to have us lined up so he could get a closer look at his property? Oh I forgot to mention that guy will be in the running to become the next President of the United States. I love the idea of having a misogynist as the President. #HeWillProbablySueMe #iHaveWorseStoriesSoComeAtMeBro #Drumpf.”
Searles reportedly added in a comment: “He probably doesn’t want me telling the story about that time he continually grabbed my ass and invited me to his hotel room.” It has since been deleted.
The Trump Explanation: Pending.
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And that’s not even including the former teen pageant contestants who say Trump barged into their dressing rooms without warning. In all, that makes more than nine women to come forward after the debate to say they were assaulted, harassed, or otherwise made to feel uncomfortable by Trump, a man who is still in the running to become president of the United States.
There’s still a month to go until the election.
This post is updating.