# MeToo and Trump

Associated Press reports that Donald Trump is coming under increasing scrutiny for his predatory sexual behaviour as the #MeToo campaign encourages women victims to come forward and tell their stories.

 

https://apnews.com/e3b50b28fa73426799e6ac63839057fb

#MeToo spotlight increasingly pointed at past Trump conduct



By JONATHAN LEMIRE - Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump sailed past a raft of allegations of sexual misconduct in last year’s presidential election.

Now the national #MeToo spotlight is turning back to Trump and his past conduct. Several of his accusers are urging Congress to investigate his behavior, and a number of Democratic lawmakers are demanding his resignation.

With each day seeming to bring new headlines that force men from positions of power, the movement to expose sexual harassment has forced an unwelcome conversation on the White House. In a heated exchange with reporters in the White House briefing room on Monday, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders steadfastly dismissed accusations against the Republican president and suggested the issue had already been litigated in Trump’s favor on Election Day.

But to Trump’s accusers, the rising #MeToo movement is an occasion to ensure he is at last held accountable.

“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, ‘Eh, we don’t care,’ it hurt,” Samantha Holvey said Monday. The former beauty queen claimed that Trump ogled her and other Miss USA pageant contestants in their dressing room in 2006.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders argues with reporters during the White House briefing Monday over what she described as honest media mistakes versus “purposefully misleading the American people.” (Dec. 11)

“Let’s try round two,” she said. “The environment’s different. Let’s try again.”

Holvey was one of four women to make her case against Trump on Monday, both in an NBC interview and then in a news conference. Rachel Crooks, a former Trump Tower receptionist who said the celebrity businessman kissed her on the mouth in 2006 without consent, called for Congress to “put aside party affiliations and investigate Trump’s history of sexual misconduct.”

“If they were willing to investigate Sen. Franken, it’s only fair that they do the same for Trump,” Crooks said.

Franken, the Democratic senator from Minnesota, announced last week that he would resign amid an ethics probe into accusations that he sexually harassed several women. Reps. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Trent Franks, R-Ariz., also resigned after misconduct accusations.

But a Capitol Hill investigation into Trump’s conduct appears unlikely. The Senate and House Ethics Committees investigate members of Congress, not presidents, and Republican-led committees are not apt to investigate Trump on sexual misconduct unless there is some sort of connection to the ongoing Russia probe.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Congress shouldn’t investigate the allegations against Trump.

“I don’t think there’s any forum for us to do that,” he said. “Just think about how that could be abused.”

Nonetheless, several Democratic senators have seized the moment and called for Trump to step down.

“President Trump should resign,” New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand told CNN on Monday. “These allegations are credible; they are numerous. I’ve heard these women’s testimony, and many of them are heartbreaking.”

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley have also called on Trump to resign.

White House aides have warily watched the movement sweep Capitol Hill, opting to repeat rote denials about allegations against the president. The president’s advisers were stunned Sunday when one of the highest-ranking women in the Trump administration broke with the White House line and said the accusers’ voices “should be heard.”

“They should be heard, and they should be dealt with,” Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in a CBS interview. “And I think we heard from them before the election. And I think any woman who has felt violated or felt mistreated in any way, they have every right to speak up.”

Haley’s comments infuriated the president, according to two people who are familiar with his views but who spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. Trump has grown increasingly angry in recent days that the accusations against him have resurfaced, telling associates that the charges are false and drawing parallels to the accusations facing Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.

Sixteen women have come forward with a range of accusations against Trump, many after the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape last October in which Trump was caught on an open microphone bragging about groping women. One woman, Summer Zevos, a contestant on Trump’s reality show, “The Apprentice,” sued, contending that Trump’s denials of her accusations amount to false and defamatory statements.

Jessica Leeds, who appeared at Monday’s news conference, recalled sitting on an airplane next to Trump in the 1970s when he began to fondle her.

“All of a sudden, he’s all over me. Kissing and groping, groping and kissing,” she said. “Nothing was said. It was just this silent groping going on.”

Trump denied the allegations during the campaign, and Sanders did the same Monday.

“Look, as the president said himself, he thinks it’s a good thing that women are coming forward, but he also feels strongly that a mere allegation shouldn’t determine the course,” Sanders said. “And again, the American people knew this and voted for the president. And we feel like we’re ready to move forward in that process.”

Sanders declined to say whether she believed the accusers or if she herself had been the victim of harassment. She grew impatient with the repeated questions and pledged to provide a list of eyewitnesses whose accounts exonerated the president.

The White House did not provide the list by late Monday.

Associated Press writers Zeke Miller and Richard Lardner contributed to this report from Washington.

Powerful Men and Sexual Predators (21/10/17)

The Week magazine raises the issue of powerful men as sexual predators with a front cover featuring Harvey Weinstein, Bill O'Reilly (formerly of Fox News) and last but not least Donald Trump.

Makes you think, or ought to a least. 

  

Locker-Room Banter? (18/01/17)

Speaking at a press conference in the Kremlin the other day, Russian President Vladimir Putin had this to say about the incoming American President Donald Trump:

"This is an adult (Donald Trump) and, moreover, a man who for many years has organised beauty contests. He socialised with the most beautiful women in the world. I can hardly imagine he rushed to the hotel to meet our girls of lower social responsibility - even though they are the best in the world, of course."

Now you might put this kind of nonsense down as juvenile 'locker-room' banter, as Donald Trump has done himself, of course.

But if you ask me, President Putin's comments about Russian prostitutes being of "lower social responsibility" are hugely demeaning, particularly as he goes on to boast that "our girls......are the best in the world."

By the way it's worth remembering that while Donald Trump claims to be far too smart to be caught out by sophisticated spying equipment during his stay in Moscow, he was exposed for his "Grab 'em by the pussy" comments while wearing a lapel microphone while doing a TV show with the NBC presenter Billy Bush.

  

Sexual Predator (10/10/16)

"Grab them by the pussy" is locker-room banter according to Donald Trump, but it's not the kind of foul language or ugly mindset that you'd expect from a professional person never mind someone aspiring to become President of the United States.

So the race for the White House has been dragged into the world of sexual predators by the unguarded comments of the Republican nominee while his 'partner in crime', a TV presenter named Billy Bush, has been suspended by the NBC Today programme.

NBC has said there is "simply no excuse for Billy's behaviour and language on that tape", yet Trump carries on after issuing a perfunctory apology which completely ingress the fact that he was in a professional setting at the time and nowhere near a locker-room.

To their credit most of the Bush family have said they will not be voting for this buffoon and while Trump's poll ratings are taking a well-deserved hit, especially among women voters, I suspect there's much more to come in the days ahead.   

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-37605883

Billy Bush suspended by NBC after Trump tape emerges

BBC - Entertainment & Arts

Image copyright AP Image caption - Billy Bush has said that he is "very sorry" for the 2005 remarks

US TV host Billy Bush has been suspended from NBC's Today show after a video tape emerged in which he and Donald Trump made lewd comments.

Today executive Noah Oppenheim wrote in a memo to the morning show's staff that there is "simply no excuse for Billy's language and behaviour on that tape".

Mr Bush has said he was "embarrassed and ashamed" at the remarks.

US presidential candidate Mr Trump has also apologised for the obscene comments made in the 2005 tape.

In the video, Mr Trump was on a bus talking to Mr Bush - then host of NBC's Access Hollywood - ahead of a segment they were about to record.

Mr Trump says "you can do anything" to women "when you're a star" and also brags about trying to grope and kiss women.

Mr Bush tells Mr Trump at one point "the Donald has scored" and also comments on a woman's "good legs".

Image copyrightAPImage caption - Mr Trump has said the words "don't reflect" who he is

The presenter, who is the first cousin of former President George W Bush, has since said: "It's no excuse, but this happened 11 years ago - I was younger, less mature, and acted foolishly in playing along. I'm very sorry."

Top Republicans have condemned Mr Trump for the comments. His election rival Hillary Clinton called them "horrific".

The Republican party nominee has said "these words don't reflect who I am... I apologise".

Bush joined the Today team in August, having been anchor of Access Hollywood since 2009 and co-host of Access Hollywood Live since 2010.

Mr Oppenheim said that there would be a "further review" of the matter and did not say how long Mr Bush would be suspended for.