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Trump Faces Rape Allegation From New Accuser E. Jean Carroll

New Donald Trump Accuser E. Jean Carroll Says He Sexually Assaulted Her in Store Dressing Room

Writer and former television host E. Jean Carroll has accused Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York City 23 years ago. The veteran advice columnist will appear on New York magazine’s cover next week, wearing the same coatdress she says she was wearing during the alleged incident.

 

Carroll recounted the incident as among several harrowing incidents with what she describes as “hideous men” over the course of her life. She is not the first to accuse Trump of harassment or assault; nearly two dozen other women did so during his presidential campaign. The president has denied all the accusations.

According to Carroll’s account, she ran into Trump in either 1995 or 1996 while he was on his way into the store and they both recognized each other. Trump recognized Carroll for former role hosting the cable advice show Ask E. Jean and Carroll recognized Trump as a real estate mogul and local tabloid fixture. She says that the two exchanged pleasantries before Trump asked the then 52-year-old to help him shop for a gift for “a girl.”

According to Carroll, after perusing various accessories, the two ended up in the lingerie department where she claims Trump picked up a bodysuit off of a display and tossed it over to her, telling her to try it on. She writes that the two kept tossing the bodysuit back and forth to each other in what at the time seemed like playful banter. From NY Mag:

You try it on,” I say, laughing. “It’s your color.”

“Try it on, come on,” he says, throwing it at me.

“It goes with your eyes,” I say, laughing and throwing it back.

“You’re in good shape,” he says, holding the filmy thing up against me. “I wanna see how this looks.”

“But it’s your size,” I say, laughing and trying to slap him back with one of the boxes on the counter.

“Come on,” he says, taking my arm. “Let’s put this on.”

This is gonna be hilarious, I’m saying to myself — and as I write this, I am staggered by my stupidity. As we head to the dressing rooms, I’m laughing aloud and saying in my mind: I’m gonna make him put this thing on over his pants!

Carroll writes that things took a turn from playful to scary when Trump “lunges at me, pushes me against the wall, hitting my head quite badly” before forcibly kissing her. She claims that she shoved him back and they laughed because she thought they were still kidding around.

“He seizes both my arms and pushes me up against the wall a second time, and, as I become aware of how large he is,” Carroll writes, “he holds me against the wall with his shoulder and jams his hand under my coatdress and pulls down my tights.”

Carroll claims that Trump unzipped his pants, forced his fingers into her crotch, and then inserted his penis “halfway — or completely, I’m not certain — inside me.” After what Carroll describes as “a colossal struggle” involving her stomping his feet with her high heels, hitting him with a free hand, and ultimately kneeing him off her, she says she was able to flee the dressing room after an encounter she says lasted about three minutes.

Carroll says she didn’t go to the police after the encounter out of fear and the ensuing harassment she was sure she’d endure. She also says she confided in two close friends about the alleged incident, both of whom gave her conflicting advice. Carroll says that one friend told her “He raped you. Go to the police! I’ll go with you.” while the other advised her to forget the alleged incident occurred because Trump “has 200 lawyers. He’ll bury you.’”

The White House denied the accusation, telling New York: “This is a completely false and unrealistic story surfacing 25 years after allegedly taking place and was created simply to make the president look bad.”

You can read Carroll’s entire account, which is an excerpt from her forthcoming book What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposalhere.