According to Donald Trump’s own words at events on Oct. 13 and 14, if the women who have come forward publicly about Trump’s sexual harassment behavior were pretty, or prettier, then they would be credible and believable.
One woman, Jessica Leeds, told her story to the New York Times. On Oct. 14, Trump said, “Yeah, I’m gonna go after her,” he said sarcastically at a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina. “Believe me, she would not be my first choice. That I can tell you. You don’t know. That would not be my first choice.”
Another account published this past week was written by Natasha Stoynoff, a reporter for People magazine, who described Trump’s sexually aggressive behavior toward her while she was on the Trump beat for People.
At the Oct. 13 rally, speaking about Stoynoff, Trump said, “Take a look. You look at her. Look at her words. You tell me what you think. I don’t think so. I don’t think so.”
By Trump’a rationale, if these women were pretty, then we should believe that he kissed or grabbed them without consent.
Let’s remember that some of the incidents these women are sharing happened 11 or more years ago. Of course these women don’t look now just like they did then.
In 2005 video/audio tape from “Access Hollywood” released recently through reporting by the Washington Post, Trump said that he kisses women without their permission or consent.
He said, “I just start kissing them,” he said to (then-Access Hollywood reporter) Billy Bush. “It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”
But on Oct. 9, at the second presidential debate, when Anderson Cooper asked him if he actually did the things that he described in the “Access Hollywood” recording, he said that he did not.
This is just another in a long line of lies Trump has told publicly. Either Trump was lying in 2005 when he said that he starts kissing women he finds attractive, or he lied on Oct. 9, 2016, when he said he didn’t ever kiss or grab women he found attractive without their permission.
He could not have been telling the truth both times.