Multiple Women Accuse Trump of Sexual Misconduct

The Accusers Come Forward

On October 12, 2016, five days after the Access Hollywood tape became public, the New York Times published accounts from two women who said Trump had touched them inappropriately. Jessica Leeds, a former businesswoman, said Trump had groped her on an airplane in the early 1980s, grabbing her breasts and reaching up her skirt. Rachel Crooks, a former receptionist at Trump Tower, said Trump had kissed her on the mouth without her consent in 2005.

Their stories came just days after Trump had denied during the presidential debate that he had ever done the things he described on the Access Hollywood tape. The women said his televised denial had motivated them to speak publicly.

A Flood of Allegations

Over the following two weeks, more than a dozen additional women came forward with similar accounts. Natasha Stoynoff, a People magazine writer, said Trump had pushed her against a wall and forced his tongue into her mouth during a 2005 interview at Mar-a-Lago. Mindy McGillivray said Trump had grabbed her buttocks at his Palm Beach estate in 2003. Summer Zervos, a former contestant on The Apprentice, said Trump had kissed her aggressively and groped her in a Beverly Hills hotel in 2007.

Former Miss Teen USA contestants also said Trump had walked into their dressing room while they were changing. Trump had, in fact, bragged about this practice in a 2005 Howard Stern interview, saying: “I’ll go backstage before a show, and everyone’s getting dressed and ready and everything else. And you know, no men are anywhere. And I’m allowed to go in because I’m the owner of the pageant. And therefore I’m inspecting it.”

Trump’s Response

Trump categorically denied all the accusations and went on the offensive. He called the women liars, questioned their physical appearance, and suggested some were not attractive enough for him to have assaulted. “Believe me, she would not be my first choice,” he said of one accuser. He threatened to sue the New York Times and the women themselves after the election, though no such lawsuits materialized. One accuser, Summer Zervos, later sued Trump for defamation; the case was settled in 2024.

Impact and Legacy

The wave of accusations created a dramatic final act to the 2016 campaign but did not ultimately derail Trump’s candidacy. Several factors muted the political impact: the compressed timeline before Election Day, the simultaneous drip of WikiLeaks releases of hacked Clinton campaign emails, and partisan polarization that led many Republican voters to dismiss the allegations as politically motivated.

The accusations would gain renewed attention during the #MeToo movement in 2017 and 2018. Many of the women who accused Trump expressed frustration that while other powerful men faced swift consequences for similar behavior, Trump had ascended to the presidency. Writer E. Jean Carroll would later win civil judgments against Trump in 2023 and 2024, with a jury finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation.