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Is it impossible to believe that someone who is running to be President of the United States has rape allegations? On Oct. 7, 2016, an extremely inappropriate video surfaced, in which the Republican nominee for President, Donald Trump, can be heard bragging about how, “When you’re a star,” you can do whatever the hell you want to women’s bodies—including “grab[bing] them by the pussy.” A statement was released shortly after the Washington Post published the unfavorable video. Trump dismissed the comments as, “Locker room banter.” However, it may be a little too late for that because the country is taking a closer look at what may be a history of not only sexually forceful words, but also sexually forceful actions. Since then, there have been rape allegations against him that are now finally receiving national attention. Accordingly, Trump has been accused of the following:
The first and most famous accusation comes from Trump’s ex-wife, Ivana Trump. The details of the incident were made public in the 1993 book Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump, written by the journalist Harry Hurt III. In a testimony from the 90s, Ivana described a disturbing scene; Trump held her arms back, pulled at her hair and raped her in a fit of rage. Ivana, ex-wife of Donald Trump, used the word “rape.”
The second accusation of sexual assault comes from a 1997 lawsuit from a former business associate. In a lawsuit filed against Trump, Jill Harth states that she and her boyfriend were working with Donald Trump on a business deal when Trump started making unwelcomed sexual advances. She says he leered at her inappropriately, groped her on several occasions without her consent and even attempted rape. She describes the scene in her lawsuit testifying that Trump took her into one of his children’s bedrooms at his Florida estate Mar-a-Lago, threw her against the wall, began touching her all over and lifted up her dress. In a recent interview with The Guardian, she spoke out stating she had to physically prevent him from moving forward by shouting out, “What are you doing? Stop it!” and adding, “It was a shocking thing to have him do this because he knew I was with George [her partner], he knew they were in the next room. And how could he be doing this when I’m there for business?”
The third case against Trump comes through a recent federal lawsuit filed in June 2016 in the State of New York by, “Jane Doe.” In the suit, Doe allegedly states that Trump raped her when she was just thirteen years old, back in 1994. According to legal documents, Doe states she went to parties with Donald Trump and his friend Jeffrey Epstein, who is a registered sex offender and known as the “billionaire pedophile.” Doe, who was trying to become a model at the time, states it was during the parties that Trump initiated sexual contact with her on several occasions, but on one occasion he allegedly raped her. According to the suit, Trump tied her to a bed, exposed himself to her and then raped her in a “savage sexual attack.” Doe says she screamed for him to stop at which point he struck her in the face while screaming, “that he would do whatever he wanted.” In a statement filed with the lawsuit, Doe says, “Immediately following this rape Defendant Trump threatened me that, were I ever to reveal any of the details of Defendant Trump’s sexual and physical abuse of me, my family and I would be physically harmed if not killed.”
Of course Donald Trump has denied all of these allegations against him. First, Trump’s ex-wife Ivana Trump, took back her use of the word “rape.” She said, “I referred to this as a ‘rape,’ but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.” She added that she felt violated. Then, Harth withdrew her lawsuit shortly after Trump settled a separate lawsuit with her romantic partner over a business matter. Lastly, Trump has denied the allegations of raping the thirteen-year-old girl, stating, “These allegations are not only categorically false, but disgusting at the highest level and clearly framed to solicit media attention or, perhaps, are simply politically motivated. There is absolutely no merit to these allegations. Period.” While here there are only three allegations mentioned in detail that is because these are known lawsuits, but there are about more allegations floating around, such as:
- Kissing a former Miss USA contestant twice without consent
- Groping a woman sitting next to him on a plane
- Kissing a receptionist at Trump Tower against her will
- Saying he’d date a ten-year-old girl in ten years
- Telling another group of fourteen-year-olds he’d date them in a “couple of years”
- Sexually assaulting a People Magazine writer
- Groping a woman at Mar-a-Lago
- Groping Miss Washington USA 2013
- Walking in on teen pageant contestants while they were changing
- Slut-shaming former Miss Universe Alicia Machado
- Sexually harassing a woman during the 1993 White House Correspondents’ Dinner
- Mistreating his female employees
- Trying to get Nancy O’Dell fired for being pregnant
- Hiring women based on appearances
- Groping a woman at a Manhattan nightclub
- Groping and kissing a former Apprentice Contestant
- Kissing a Mar-a-Lago guest at a Mother’s Day brunch
- Groping a woman outside the 1998 U.S. Open Tennis Championship
- Groping Miss Finland in 2006 before appearing with her on the Late Show with David Letterman
Now you can see that Republican candidate, Donald Trump, not only has rape allegations and lawsuits against him, but is a misogynist. The question for you is, are you sure that you still want to vote for this man?
Sources:
Fahrenthold, D. A. (2016, October 8). Trump recorded having extremely lewd conversation about women in 2005. Washington Post. Retrieved October 27, 2016 from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-… Graves, L. (2016, October 15).
Jill Harth speaks out about alleged groping by Donald Trump. The Guardian. Retrieved October 27, 2016 from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/20/donald-trump-sexual-assa… Inc, S. (2016). Donald Trump & Jeffrey Epstein rape lawsuit and affidavits. Retrieved October 27, 2016, from https://www.scribd.com/doc/316341058/Donald-Trump-Jeffrey-Epstein-Rape-L… Cut, T. (2016, October 27).
Here are all of the accusations women have made against Donald Trump. Retrieved October 27, 2016, from http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/10/all-the-women-accusing-trump-of-rape-sex…