Despite our living a unique moment in history after the Harvey Weinstein expose, a “watershed moment” during which women and men finally feel safe enough to come forward en masse to say “me too”—we have been sexually harassed, we have been assaulted, “us, too”—Trump’s long history of predatory behavior continues to go unpunished. Yes, collusion with Russia is important, but women’s lives don’t stop being important because of politics.
In a recent interview with Alisyn Camerota on CNN’s New Day this morning, former Trump Tower employee Rachel Crooks spoke publicly for the first time about her accusation against Trump and Billy Bush’s recent op-ed on the now-infamous recording of Trump talking about being able to “grab [women] by the p*#@y,” and Trump’s recent attempts to paint that recording as “not authentic.”
Crooks is glad that Bush has stepped up to confirm that the recording (in which “he’s basically admitting to the behavior that I was a victim of.”) is real and speak out in support of Trump’s victims, despite him doing so “months later.” And while she’s thrilled that victims of sexual harassment and assault in Hollywood and other industries finally feel empowered to talk about their experiences and bring down predators, she expresses a bittersweet element of it, too.
“I do feel forgotten,” she says to Camerota. “I mean, you can’t help but wonder why people aren’t talking about Trump, and the people that came forward for him, and why is he immune to this? So, it’s been very frustrating, and that’s basically why I’m here.”
Because, you know, sure Harvey Weinstein is powerful…but Trump is (much though it pains me to say) our President. Shouldn’t he be held to an even higher standard than, say, a film producer? Because, you know, he’s running the whole country and is responsible for our lives, safety, and well-being and all?
She goes on to tell her story, and it is gross. She went to go introduce herself to Trump after having worked at Trump Tower for a while, and he ended up repeatedly kissing her on both cheeks until finally taking her hands and forcibly kissing her on the mouth before taking the elevator upstairs.
“He certainly has some flaws,” Crooks says. “And I thought that people would, I don’t know, take that into account at the polls.”
SO DID WE, Ms. Crooks. So did we.
(via Uproxx, image: screencap)
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