OCTOBER 14, 2016
Photo: Getty
I was going to post this blog on Thursday, but the stream of women coming out of the shadows to tell their stories of being groped by Donald Trump was so steady as to make any article posted on that day out of date within the hour.
Who knows what will happen after we go to press, but at this hour, Trump has been accused by six different women of what we shall call “unwanted advances.”
At Sunday’s debate, when moderator Anderson Cooper asked Trump whether he had acted on his boasts about groping women, Trump gave his usual “I cherish women…I’ve employed women…blah blah blah” spiel. But to Cooper’s credit, he didn’t let him go, and interrupting Trump several times during his “I cherish women” routine to nail him as to whether he ever touched women inappropriately, Trump flicked him off as if was a bothersome gnat. At last, Trump paused in his lengthy monologue to say, “No, I have not” before returning to his script. Bingo.
In Tuesday’s recap of the debate on Exact Change Today, I had predicted that that casual denial would come back to haunt Trump. Only I never though that it would come this fast.
The dam actually broke in Wednesday’s edition of The New York Times with the story of two women who had come forward to say that Trump had touched them inappropriately in the past. As if to inoculate the women from any potential criticism that the accusers were looking to further their own careers, The Times particularly put forward, via video, the moving story of Jessica Leeds, now 74, who, 30-some years ago, sat next to Trump in first-class flight to New York. According to Leeds, Trump lifted the armrest and began to touch Leeds inappropriately above the waist, which annoyed her. But it was when she said that he inserted his hand between her legs in the area of her vagina that she fled to find some seat in coach just to get away from Trump.
In addition to the two named women who came forward for The Times, four more women, willing to give their names, came forward to state that they had been the victims of inappropriate touching by Trump.
Plus, reports surfaced on Thursday that on the set of Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice,” Trump had called contestant and Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin, who happens to be deaf, “retarded.” Though the charge has yet to be substantiated, considering how he callously mocked the jerky movements of a disabled reporter, it has the ring of truth. Marlee Matlin? Really?
Naturally, the Trump campaign went into full defensive mode. Trump surrogate Katrina Peterson made the network rounds claiming that the first-class seats at that time did not have armrests that moved, so Leeds is obviously a liar, as if armrests could deter the Groper-in-Chief from doing his business. And Trump’s official campaign spokesperson is shocked! shocked! that people are reaching back into the past for charges of sexual harassment. But aren’t they trying to do the exact same thing with Bill Clinton?
Still, this is yet another distraction for the Trump campaign at a time when they were beginning to make a little progress in the polls after the Sunday debate. Though all scientific polls showed that Trump lost that debate by a wide margin, the red meat that Trump had thrown out (Benghazi! E-mails! Bill Clinton!) seemed to bring the Trump die-hards back into the fold to help his poll numbers. Good for them.
But the continual drip drip drip of these unwanted-touching accusations can’t help but hurt a campaign that has already been on the ropes. With only 25 days until the election, why is Trump wasting his time picking fights with House leader Paul Ryan and vowing vengeance on fellow Republicans who won’t back him? Why doesn’t he learn from these accusations and put forward some meaningful proposals that could really help women? His daughter Ivanka could be a tremendous help selling that if only he were interested.
Instead, he’s too caught up in enjoying the roar of the crowd and the intoxication of mass adoration to care at a time when he really needs to focus to win. Savor the roar of the crowd now, Donald — you only have 25 days left to enjoy it.
