Donald Trump’s alleged history of mistreating and demeaning women isn’t going away. Over the weekend, the Trump campaign seemed on the verge of a total meltdown, with the Republican Party was thrown into crisis mode—as the leaked Access Hollywood tape showed the Republican nominee making graphic remarks about grabbing women’s genitals with then-co-host Billy Bush. Bush has been suspended in his current role on NBC’s Today show as a result of the hot mic recording.
On Sunday, Trump said that he never has sexually assaulted women during the second presidential debate; one where he had a stronger performance than usual, with Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough saying he dominated the stage. Yet, we’re about to get into another round of inquiry after The New York Times found two women who allege that Trump touched them inappropriately, one said it was an assault:
More than three decades ago, when she was a traveling businesswoman at a paper company, Ms. Leeds said, she sat beside Mr. Trump in the first-class cabin of a flight to New York. They had never met before.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 said. “His hands were everywhere.”
She fled to the back of the plane. “It was an assault,” she said
[…]
Ms. Crooks was a 22-year-old receptionist at Bayrock Group, a real estate investment and development company in Trump Tower in Manhattan, when she encountered Mr. Trump outside an elevator in the building one morning in 2005.
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.
“It was so inappropriate,” Ms. Crooks recalled in an interview. “I was so upset that he thought I was so insignificant that he could do that.”
Trump has stringently denied the allegations, threatening to file a lawsuit against The New York Times should they publish the story.
“You are a disgusting human being,” he said to one of the Times reporters asking him questions about the alleged incidents. Again, let’s see how this plays out. The media has far too often botched stories about sexual assault ranging from lacrosse teams to co-eds at the University of Virginia—all of which turned out to be gross misrepresentations of the truth, even flat out lies, regarding allegations of sexual assault. If they’re true, then like the Access Hollywood tape, they’re indefensible and the American people will make the judgment call on November 8.
Still, there’s something incredibly fishy about all of these incidents coming out now as opposed to over a year ago when Trump was spiking in his support during the primary, or over the summer when his campaign hit a rough patch after Cleveland. Guy will have a post tomorrow about TMZ’s scoop that NBC allegedly held onto the Access Hollywood tape in order to release it for maximum effect. Sounds like a coordinated effort by the Democrat-media complex, doesn’t it?