Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Trump is Accused (Yet Again) of Sexual Assault

Donald Trump has again denied allegations he sexually assaulted a columnist in the 1990s, saying "she's not my type". 

Trump said E. Jean Carroll was "totally lying" about the alleged attack in a New York department store.  "I'll say it with great respect: Number one, she's not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" Trump said.

The 75-year-old writer made the allegations in the New York magazine.  In a follow-up interview with CNN, the Elle columnist said she would consider pressing charges against Trump.  Carroll is the 16th woman to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct.  Trump has denied all allegations against him.

Carroll says the attack happened at a Bergdorf Goodman store in Manhattan in late 1995 or early 1996, when the pair bumped into each other while shopping.  Trump is said to have asked her for advice when buying lingerie for another woman and jokingly asked her to model it for him.  In the changing rooms, she said Trump lunged at her, pinned her against a wall and forced himself on her.

Carroll, whose "Ask E. Jean" advice column has appeared in Elle magazine since 1993, claims she managed to push him off after a "colossal struggle".

Trump initially tried to deny the charges by saying that he didn't even know Carroll-- a claim later refuted when pictures of the two together appeared in New York magazine.   Trump later accused Carroll of "trying to sell a new book" and "peddling fake news".

Trump made similar denials about another accuser, Jessica Leeds in 2016, when she alleged he groped her on an airplane in the 1980s.

No comments: