Ten days ago, the world learned about a 2005 video in which Trump made comments to then Access Hollywood co-host Billy Bush about how he treats women. In the video, obtained by The Washington Post, Trump said he would kiss women and “grab them by the pussy” without asking. “When you’re a star, they let you do it,” he said. “You can do anything.”
Since the release of the tape, Trump has apologized for his comments but claimed that he’s never actually sexually assaulted any woman. But at least nine women beg to differ, according to CNN, saying that Trump sexually assaulted them.
Jessica Leeds and Rachel Crooks both told their stories about Trump to The New York Times, Leeds saying that Trump touched her inappropriately on a plane, and Crooks saying he kissed her without consent. Trump told the Times reporter that she was “a disgusting human being” for asking about the allegations.
According to Rolling Stone, Trump also spoke disgustedly about former People magazine journalist Natasha Stoynoff, who wrote about Trump assaulting her while she was at Mar-a-Lago to interview him and Melania. “Look at her, look at her words, and tell me what you think,” he said in a speech last Thursday. “I don’t think so.”
TIME reports that in another speech in North Carolina Friday, Trump made more disdainful, insulting comments about his accusers. He called one a “horrible woman,” and then told his followers to look up another accuser on Facebook. He said Leeds, the woman who alleges Trump attacked her on a plane, “would not be my first choice.”
People are just starting to realize that women are treated absolutely horribly when they report sexual assault—and Trump is a prime example. It’s hard to believe that he has even a modicum of respect for women when he responds to sexual assault allegations by saying the women accusing him are too ugly to merit being assaulted. Remember when Michelle Obama said, “When they go low, we go high”? Trump has a very different approach: “When you get hit, you hit back,” he said last Friday. It’s time to seriously consider which attitude we want in the White House.