While Harvey Weinstein is currently in hot water – boiling, in fact – as accusations of sexual assault against him keep surfacing, President Donald Trump’s rape and sexual harassment accusers are demanding to know why he is not also being taken to task.
It’s been nearly a year since Jessica Leeds, now 75-years-old, divulged details of an incident in which Donald Trump allegedly summoned her to first class on a flight and then proceeded to grope her.
“It was a real shock when, all of a sudden, his hands were all over me,” Leeds said. “I hesitate to use this expression, but I’m going to, and that is, he was like an octopus. It was like he had six arms.”
Now, Leeds is wondering why Donald Trump has not yet faced the same brutal rebuking that has been heaped on Harvey Weinstein in recent weeks.
“It is hard to reconcile that Harvey Weinstein could be brought down with this, and Trump just continues to be the Teflon Don.
Ms. Leeds is not the only woman that has accused President Trump of sexual harassment. In fact, Trump’s ex-wife, Ivana Trump, has alleged that the president raped her during their marriage, saying that he held back her arms and pulled out handfuls of hair from her scalp . The president then reportedly “tore off her clothes and unzipped his pants,” at which point the “violent” rape purportedly took place.
Donald Trump has also been accused of raping a 13-year-old child and attempting to rape a former business associate .
Melinda McGillivray, who accused Trump of touching her inappropriately while at his Mar-a-Lago resort when she was 23-years-old, has also spoken out recently following the Weinstein scandal.
“What pisses me off is that the guy is president. It’s that simple.”
Ms. Leeds and Ms. McGillivray were among a total of 11 women who last year accused Trump of unsolicited touching or kissing. Yet despite their claims, Trump went on to become arguably the most powerful man on the planet.
Joining the foray was Jill Harth, a former Trump employee who sued him in 1997, claiming he had touched her breasts, kissed her and tried to grope her genitals, and Cathy Heller, who was also reportedly kissed against her will by Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 1997. These accusations seem to be in line with Trump’s own confession that he often used his high-profile status as permission to grab women “by the p***y.”
Ms. Harth has further claimed that Trump once got into bed , uninvited, with one of the contestants competing in a pageant owned by the real-estate mogul.
Last year, during Trump’s presidential bid, The Washington Post and ABC News conducted a poll that asked respondents whether they believed that Trump had sexually assaulted women before. A whopping 68 percent of voters thought that he had, while only 14 percent believed that he was innocent. Now he is occupying the Oval Office.
Meanwhile, according to The Washington Post , as disturbing allegations against Harvey Weinstein continue to mount, igniting global outrage and inspiring social media campaigns to encourage victims to come forward, Trump’s accusers are faced with the reality that they have not seen the same response to their alleged perpetrator.
“My pain is every day with bastard Trump as President,” tweeted Ms. Harth. “No one gets it unless it happens to them. NO one!”
Ms. Heller, on the other hand, said she was disappointed that none of the allegations against Trump have “stuck.” She believes that it might have something to do with the celebrity status of Weinstein’s accusers.
“A lot of them were actresses we’ve all heard of. When it’s a celebrity, it has more weight than just someone who he met at Mar-a-Lago or a beauty pageant contestant. They’re not people we’ve heard of. And that, in our society, has much more weight because they’re famous.”
Heller added that she felt a sense of hope after witnessing the swift and severe consequences Harvey Weinstein has had to face, saying that “finally something was really done and a guy finally got his dues, his just deserts.” she said. Nevertheless, for Trump, she believes, “it’s never too late.”
Unlike Weinstein, Trump has persistently and aggressively denied all of the sexual assault claims against him. In his signature style, Trump called it “totally fake news.”
“It’s just fake. It’s fake. It’s made-up stuff, and it’s disgraceful, what happens, but that happens in the — that happens in the world of politics.”
Trump is currently embattled in a sexual harassment lawsuit. The next stage will commence on October 31, after which a judge in New York state will make a ruling as to whether the suit will go ahead.
[Featured Image by Evan Vucci/AP Images]