Donald Trump's sexual harassment accusers hope president goes way of Weinstein
23 Oct 2017 9:40 PM IST
Washington: As the aftershocks from Harvey Weinstein's alleged sexual misconduct spread to other powerful men in Hollywood and media, a group of women for whom the allegations are "gross but familiar" are wondering if the fallout will reach an even more powerful man – the one in the White House.
During the course of his presidential campaign, more than 10 women came forward with accusations that Donald Trump had touched or kissed them without consent – something he bragged about on the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood tape when he said stars like him could "grab them by the pussy".
A number of other women accused Trump of unwanted sexual advances. And like so many of the Weinstein stories to come out this month, their claims have remarkable consistency.
Three of them spoke with the Guardian after the allegations against Weinstein – who denies the claims against him – came to light, to revisit their accusations against Trump.
Although they are glad women have spoken up against the Hollywood producer and feel the culture may finally change, they are worried the relative silence of men will continue to allow abusers to rise to power.
They are Cathy Heller, who told the Guardian last year that in the late 1990s Trump forcibly kissed her on the lips the first time they had ever met; Kari Wells, a former model and Bravo Actress, who said Trump aggressively propositioned her in 1992 while he was dating her friend; and Jessica Leeds, who said Trump assaulted her on a plane in the early 1980s when he allegedly groped her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt.
They were just some of the women who spoke out about Trump's behavior – women who, in many cases, were young and vulnerable and eager for an opening in industries such as modelling or TV in which the Miss Universe owner and Apprentice star had sway.
There was his former business partner in the beauty pageant industry, Jill Harth, who told the Guardian in an interview last summer that Trump groped her breasts and grabbed her crotch in one of the children's rooms at his Florida home Mar-a-Lago in 1993.
"My pain is everyday with bastard Trump as President. "No one gets it unless it happens to them. NO one!" Harth tweeted after the Weinstein allegations came to light.
Then there was Kristin Anderson, who claimed last fall that Trump touched her vagina through her underwear at a Manhattan nightclub in the early 1990s.
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