When some women went on the record last week to accuse Donald Trump of sexual misconduct, many wondered if the published allegations would lead to additional accusers. They have, and the Guardian reported on the latest over the weekend.
On 7 October, as the political world convulsed from the revelation that Trump had bragged about kissing and groping women without their consent, Cathy Heller, 63, was sitting in her New York home fielding incredulous emails from a friend.”I keep thinking about how he treated you,” her friend wrote, hours after showing Heller the tape. “Obviously not an isolated incident.”It was a story Heller had told many friends and family members over the years, but is only now telling in public. Some 20 years ago, she claims, when she met Donald Trump for the first and only time, he grabbed her, went for a kiss, and grew angry with her as she twisted away. “Oh, come on,” she alleges that he barked, before holding her firmly in place and planting his lips on hers.
Heller told the Guardian, in reference to the Republican presidential nominee, “He can’t claim we’re all liars,” Heller said.Trump and his campaign team continue to insist the GOP candidate did nothing wrong and his accusers’ claims are unfounded. Complicating matters, however, is the fact that Trump was recorded bragging about committing sexual assault, including boasts that he kisses women without their consent when he considers them attractive. “I don’t even wait,” Trump said in 2005, adding that he can get away with such behavior because of his public profile.In other words, Cathy Heller’s allegations appear consistent with Trump’s description of his own behavior.Accounts vary, but Heller appears to be the 10th woman to raise allegations against Trump over the last week, and NBC News has a rundown of the various claims.Team Trump’s pushback against the accusations hasn’t gone smoothly.On Friday, the Republican candidate publicly suggested one of his accusers wasn’t attractive enough for him to molest. Trump joked soon after about the impressiveness of his sex life.After promising evidence that would exonerate the candidate, Team Trump put forward a witness on Friday to defend the candidate against one of the accusers, but given Anthony Gilberthorpe’s track record and credibility problems, this did little to undermine the controversy.Meanwhile, A.J. Delgado, a Trump surrogate and conservative commentator, added on MSNBC yesterday that the candidate didn’t go after his accusers based on their appearance, but if he did, such a move would be justified.”Mr. Trump isn’t referring to anybody’s looks. To the degree that he does perhaps, I don’t think he was referring to her looks. If he did, when you have somebody claiming that you sexually assaulted them, you have brought looks into the equation,” Delgado said.Don’t ask me to explain this; I have no idea what it means.Finally, as Rachel noted on Friday’s show, one of Trump’s accusers has decided to leave the country, fearing for her safety after coming forward last week.
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Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."