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In Post-Weinstein Era, Trump Sexual Assault Accusers Await His Downfall

In Post-Weinstein Era, Trump Sexual Assault Accusers Await His Downfall

The women who have accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault are patiently awaiting his undoing.

Three of the 16 women who have accused Trump of some form of sexual assault spoke to People on Thursday. The women discussed what it’s been like for them as more and more men in power are being publicly condemned for accusations of sexual misconduct in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

Journalist Natasha Stoynoff, who accused Trump of assaulting her in 2005 while she was attempting to conduct an interview with him, told People she feels the accusations against him have been “on hold.”

“It’s been simmering on the stove with the lid on, like a pressure cooker,” she said. “But now the heat’s on and it’s going to boil and the lid is going to blast off.”

Last month, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the White House’s official stance on the sexual assault accusations is that every single one of the women is lying. In October 2016, Trump brushed off a now-infamous 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape, which featured him bragging about grabbing women “by the pussy,” as “locker room talk.”

“For Trump and his press secretary to continue to push the false agenda that the women are liars and continue to so cavalierly defame private citizens is outrageous and improper,” Stoynoff said.

Jessica Leeds, who alleges that Trump groped her on a flight in the 1980s, said she’s “extremely disappointed” that punishment for Trump has stalled.

“It’s disturbing that many of Trump’s diehard supporters are so stubborn,” Mindy McGillivray, who says Trump groped her while she was attending a concert at Mar-a-Lago in 2003, told People. “That they can’t seem to come to terms with the reality that their president is just as guilty as Roy Moore.”

Moore, a Republican Senate nominee in Alabama, has been accused by eight women of some form of sexual misconduct when he was an adult and they were minors.

Former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos is suing Trump for defamation after he publicly called her allegations fake. Zervos has accused Trump of groping and forcibly kissing her on several occasions in 2007. She served him a subpoena last month requesting all documents from his campaign that pertain to “any woman alleging that Donald J. Trump touched her inappropriately.” The judge in Zervos’ case is expected to decide before the end of the year whether the suit should move ahead.

Head over to People to read more.

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