Stacey Williams, a writer and former model, joined the dozens of women who have accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct when she came forward this week to allege that he groped her at Trump Tower in 1993.
Williams, a registered Democrat who first publicly made the allegation on a “Survivors for Kamala” Zoom call on Monday night, also spoke with NBC News in an interview Wednesday.
On the Zoom call, Williams said that she and Jeffrey Epstein stopped by Trump Tower one day in early 1993. When she met Trump, he “pulled me into him and started groping me,” Williams said. “He put his hands all over my breasts and my waist, butt and I froze. And I froze because I was so deeply confused about what was happening because the hands were moving all over me.”
Epstein and Trump spoke calmly and were smiling at each other as Trump touched her, she said on the Zoom call.
Epstein and Trump spoke calmly and were smiling at each other as Trump touched her, she said on the Zoom call. Williams told NBC News that the two men talked about her “as an object,” making comments about her looks. She said Epstein later berated her and asked, “Why did you let him do that?”
As NBC News pointed out, Williams appears to be the first person whose sexual misconduct accusation against Trump also involves Epstein, the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender. Williams told NBC News that she would spend time with Epstein but that he was not her boyfriend and their relationship was never sexual. She said she cut off contact with Epstein after the alleged Trump Tower incident and that she had not known he was a sexual predator until media reports years later.
Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt denied Williams’ allegation, telling NBC News in part: “These accusations, made by a former activist for Barack Obama and announced on a Harris Campaign call two weeks before the election, are unequivocally false.” (The Zoom call was not organized by Kamala Harris’ campaign.)
Trump has been accused by dozens of women of sexual misconduct, ranging from forcible kissing and groping to rape. Trump has denied all the allegations against him, at times defending himself by saying an accuser was not his “type” or “would not have been the chosen one.” Williams’ accusation comes as Trump is trying to win over undecided women voters, making bold — and baffling — declarations about reproductive rights and casting himself as their champion. “You will no longer be abandoned, lonely or scared. You will no longer be in danger. … You will no longer have anxiety from all of the problems our country has today,” Trump said at a rally last month. “You will be protected, and I will be your protector.” Trump’s attempts to win over women are deeply disconnected from his record on women’s issues and his gendered attacks on his female rivals. Williams’ allegation is a reminder of the long list of women who have alleged similarly violating experiences with the Republican presidential nominee.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
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