Donald the accused rapist

In discussing the release of the "Access Hollywood" tape back during the 2016 campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump told his side-kick Billy Bush that "When you're a star they let you do it.    I just start kissing them.   Grab 'em by the p--sy.   They'll let you do anything when you're a star."

We've long-since learned not to trust anything Trump says, so this could just be his untrue braggadocio.   On the other hand, now at least a 16th woman has come forward to corroborate Donald Trump's boorish (and worse) behavior toward women.

E. Jean Carroll, noted magazine writer and advice columnist, has included in her forthcoming book What Do We Need Men For?  A Modest Proposal, a disturbing encounter with Donald Trump in the mid-1990's.   An excerpt from the book describing the incident has just been published in New York Magazine.  

Carroll says she ran into Trump while shopping at Bergdorf Goodman Department store and that they recognized each other and spoke.   Trump then asked her help in picking out a gift for a woman.   She suggested a handbag or a hat, but Trump was more interested in looking at lingerie, Carroll says.  They joked about trying it on, and then Trump led her into a dressing room where no one else was around.

Although up to that point it had been playful, once inside the dressing room, she says Trump "lunged at" her, pushed her against the wall and began kissing her.   Then he became more aggressively sexual, pulling down her tights and forcing himself on her, eventually pushing his penis at least part-way into her.   "It was a fight," and he hurt her, she says.   She fought him off as best she could and finally got out and away from him.

She further states that she told two different friends about the incident at the time, but did not bring charges against him.   It was typical, in that era, not to bring charges of sexual assault against powerful and famous men -- because they, the women, would often suffer more public shaming and character destruction than the men.   The past five years has been proof of that, Harvey Weinstein being a prime example.

Several commentators have pointed out that, although this would be beyond the statute of limitations for most charges, there is no time limitation on charges of rape.    According to Carroll's account, this was rape.

Journalistic experts have also said that reputable publishers and periodicals like New York Magazine are scrupulous in their vetting of stories like this, which means they have checked it out as much as possible for authenticity.    The two contemporaneous confidantes she told, who have corroborated that she told them the same story shortly after it happened, lend credence to the story as true.

Donald Trump's response has been typical for him:   Deny, deny, deny and then denigrate the accuser.     First, he said he didn't even know this woman;  had never me her.    After a news photo of her and her husband with Donald and Ivana Trump appeared, he changed to this:

"She's not my type."     Does that mean that, if she were your "type," what you did would have been all right, Donald?   Is that what you're saying?    In an interview with Anderson Cooper, Ms. Carroll's response, sardonically, was "I'm so glad I'm not his type."

Then, if "not my type" weren't enough (which it wasn't)  Trump added on:   "It didn't happen.    It never happened."

Trump has absolutely no credibility in any area.   Why should his "didn't happen" be any good as a defense?   So we have: "don't know her" (disproven by the photo);  "not my type" (a ridiculous non-defense);   "didn't happen" (sure it did).

So, there's a pretty good chance that Donald J. Trump, in addition to all the other ways he is unfit for the job of President and Commander-in-Chief of the United States -- is a rapist.

Ralph