Five women are now on the record describing unwanted sexual advances from Trump, confirming his boasts of entitlement to do so.
By Moses Frenck
The New York Times on Wednesday published a report in which two women said Trump touched them inappropriately without their consent — despite Trump’s insistence during last Sunday’s second presidential debate that he had never engaged in the behavior he bragged about engaging in.
According to the Times, Jessica Leeds and Rachel Crooks decided to tell their stories specifically because Trump denied ever kissing or groping women without their consent when asked repeatedly by CNN’s Anderson Cooper during the debate.
In the Times piece, which includes a video interview, Jessica Leeds, who was 38 at the time and is now 74, said she was on a flight with Trump, sitting next to him in first class.
Leeds describes Trump lifting the armrest and groping her, grabbing her breasts and putting his hand up her skirt. “He was like an octopus,” she said. “His hands were everywhere.”
Crooks told the Times she was kissed by Trump in 2005 when she was a 22-year-old receptionist at a company located in Trump Tower. She said she met Trump outside an elevator and introduced herself, but after they shook hands, Trump would not let go and began kissing her cheeks and “kissed me directly on the mouth,” Crooks told the Times.
“It was so inappropriate,” she said. “I was so upset that he thought I was so insignificant that he could do that.”
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Meanwhile, the Palm Beach Post reported that a third woman says Trump grabbed her inappropriately while at his Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida 13 years ago. “Donald just grabbed my ass,” she told a friend immediately after Trump groped her, according to the Post.
None of the women pursued legal action, but the Times and Palm Beach Post spoke with friends and family of the women who said the women had discussed the incidents with them when they happened.
While the Trump campaign denied the allegations, a Clinton campaign statement said, “This disturbing story sadly fits everything we know about the way Donald Trump has treated women. These reports suggest that he lied on the debate stage and that the disgusting behavior he bragged about in the tape is more than just words.”
On Wednesday night, People Magazine published a report by one of its writers, who said she herself was physically attacked by Trump at his Palm Beach resort.
Writer Natasha Stoynoff said she was on assignment at Mar-A-Lago in December writing a profile of Trump’s one-year anniversary with Melania. When a pregnant Melania went upstairs during a break, Trump took Stoynoff into a room and “within seconds he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat.”
Another woman who CNN anchor Erin Burnett has known for years, did not wish to be identified but has told of being sexually assaulted by Trump.
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Trump Supporters Call to Repeal Women’s Right to Vote
The ongoing revelations of Trump’s views and behavior toward women have continued to erode his support among women, leading to a poll released Tuesday showing a Trump win would be guaranteed if only men voted. The solution per Trump supporters: repeal the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which in 1920 gave women the right to vote.
The hashtag #RepealThe19th was trending on Twitter Wednesday, with Trump supporters — both men and women — fantasizing over a male-only electorate.
Tweets from female Trump supporters included statements such as: “I would gladly waive my right to vote to solidify the win!” or the similar sentiment, “I would be willing to give up my right to vote to make this happen,” and even “Men should never have given women the right to vote.”
The Twitter commentary was in response to an analysis published by Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight that showed if only women voted, Hillary Clinton would win the election with 458 electoral votes over Trump’s 80. Meanwhile, if only men voted, Trump would win 350 electoral votes over Clinton’s 188. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win.
The United States of Women vs. The United States of Menhttps://t.co/F455bP3D8I pic.twitter.com/qjr6zLh640— 538 politics (@538politics) October 12, 2016
Silver, a statistician and journalist who founded FiveThirtyEight (the name taken from the 538 total voters in the Electoral College), correctly predicted the winner in 49 of the 50 states in the 2008 presidential election and the winner of all 50 states in the 2012 presidential election.
The analysis published Tuesday was in the aftermath of video released last week where Trump boasted about his entitlement to kiss and grope women without their consent. The analysis did not include bombshell allegations of actual kissing and groping reported Wednesday.
With regard to repealing the 19th Amendment, the irony here is twofold:
First, Trump supporters claim to be staunch supporters of the Constitution. Despite countless innocent people killed shooting massacres, they oppose any form of gun control, saying the Second Amendment cannot be tampered with. Yet, when women denounce a sexual predator, they call for the 19th Amendment to be gutted without hesitation.
Second, in order to repeal the 19th Amendment, two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate would need to vote in favor of such an action. Approximately 20 percent of Congress currently consists of women.
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