Women turn up heat on Trump over alleged sexual misconduct

THREE women who claim Donald Trump sexually harassed them have gone on television and spoken out, aiming to show the world “what a pervert he is”.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly denied claims of sexual misconduct. Picture: AFP/Saul Loeb

THREE women who have accused Donald Trump of harassing them have reiterated their claims ahead of a crucial senate election that has also been engulfed by claims of sexual misconduct.

Samantha Holvey, Jessica Leeds and Rachel Crooks appeared on Megyn Kelly Today and in a press conference on Monday to detail their accusations against the President and call for a congressional investigation into his behaviour.

The most shocking claim came from Ms Leeds, who said Mr Trump once forcibly kissed and groped her on an aeroplane and that he called her a “c***” when they met again years later.

Jessica Leeds speaks during the press conference held by women accusing Donald Trump of sexual harassment. Picture: Monica Schipper/Getty Images/AFP

Ms Leeds said she was invited into first class on a plane while she was working as a travelling saleswoman during the 1970s.

She was seated next to a man who she didn’t know at the time was Donald Trump.

“All of a sudden, he’s all over me. Kissing and groping, groping and kissing,” she told Megyn Kelly.

“Nothing was said … It was just this silent groping going on.

“When his hands started going up my skirt, I’m not a small person, I managed to wriggle out and stand up, grab my purse and I went to the back of the aeroplane.

“I didn’t tell anyone then. I just thought, that’s some creep on the aeroplane.”

US President Donald Trump says allegations made against his are politically motivated and untrue. Picture: AFP/Saul Loeb

Ms Leeds met Mr Trump again about three years later at a gala in New York City.

“He says, ‘I remember you. You were that woman from that aeroplane’. He called me the worst name ever,” she said.

Without saying the word, she told Kelly that Mr Trump had called her a “c***”.

Ms Leeds admitted she was a Democrat, but said she wasn’t motivated to speak out due to politics.

“I wanted people to know … what a pervert he is,” she said.

Rachel Crooks, Jessica Leeds and Samantha Holvey have called for a congressional investigation into Trump's alleged behaviour. Picture: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

Samantha Holvey, who says Mr Trump leered at her while she competed in the 2006 Miss America pageant, said she was back for “round two” of trying to get her allegations against Mr Trump to stick after first going public in 2016.

“It was heartbreaking last year. We’re private citizens and for us to put ourselves out there to try and show America who this man is and how he views women, and for them to say ‘Meh, we don’t care’, it hurt,” she said.

Megyn Kelly interviewed Mr Trump’s accusers on her morning show. Pic: NBC

She said Mr Trump looked over her “like a piece of meat” when he went backstage for a meet-and-greet during the pageant.

“I was not a human being. I didn’t have a brain, I didn’t have a personality. I was just simply there for his pleasure. It left me feeling very gross, very dirty,” she said.

Rachel Crooks, who also told her story to CNN last week, claims Mr Trump forcibly kissed her inside Trump Tower in 2005.

“He held onto my hand, but then he kept kissing me,” she told Kelly. “Kissing me again, and again, and again ... He kissed me on the lips, and I was shocked. Yeah, I mean, devastated. It happened so fast. I wish I would have been courageous enough to be like, what’s going on, you need to stop this.”

Rachel Crooks on Megyn Kelly’s show. Pic: NBC

Ms Crooks said in a press conference later on Monday that the claims of Mr Trump’s accusers had “fallen on deaf ears”.

“Recently, the #MeToo movement has gained momentum and women have found strength in one another and the courage to come forward leading many men to suffer the consequences of their actions. Trump, however, has escaped his path unscathed but over a dozen women have come forward about his sexual misconduct and we have video proof of him promoting such behaviour,” she said in reference to the infamous “grab ’em by the pussy” tape.

“In an objective setting, without question, a person with this record would have entered the graveyard of political aspirations never to return, yet here we are with that man as president.”

The three women are among at least 15 who have accused Mr Trump of sexual misconduct over the decades.

The President has dismissed the claims as false and a politically motivated smear campaign.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders reiterated that denial on Monday.

“Look, the President has addressed these accusations directly and denied all of these allegations,” she said at the daily press briefing.

“And this took place long before he was elected to be President. And the people of this country, at a decisive election, supported President Trump, and we feel like these allegations have been answered through that process.”

Ms Huckabee Sanders added that “eyewitnesses” had backed up the President’s denials.

The women’s appearances came the day before the vote for an Alabama senate seat, which is being contested by Roy Moore, who has been accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

Six women say the conservative judge pursued romantic relationships with them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s, while two others accused him of assault or molestation. Mr Moore has denied the claims.

Mr Trump has thrown his support behind Mr Moore, saying it was not in America’s best interests to elect Democrat Doug Jones, who he said would vote against the Republicans’ agenda.

Meanwhile, US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said the women who had accused Mr Trump “should be heard”.

“I think any woman who has felt violated or felt mistreated in any way, they have every right to speak up,” she told CBS’s Face the Nation.

Allegations of sexual misconduct have also hit the Democratic side of politics, with Al Franken announcing his resignation from Congress last week over allegations of harassment and assault.

Originally published as Women turn up heat on Trump over alleged sexual misconduct