WARNING: This story contains graphic language.
At the second presidential debate, CNN’s Anderson Cooper posed a pointed question to Donald Trump in regards to the leaked 2005 Access Hollywood video that caught him saying of women that he felt entitled to “grab them by the pussy.”
“For the record, you’re saying you never did that?” Cooper asked.
Trump, downplaying his remarks as “locker room talk,” denied he had ever kissed or groped women without consent.
“No one has more respect for women than I do,” he added.
His denial, though, has opened the floodgates for women who are now accusing him of sexual harassment spanning from groping on planes to unwanted advances in the Trump Tower.
The presidential candidate has strongly denied wrongdoing, going so far as to threaten lawsuits against media outlets who published new claims.
For some of the women, they felt compelled to speak out against Trump after hearing him tell Cooper that he had not groped women without their consent. Here’s what they have said so far:
Jessica Leeds
When it allegedly happened: Around 1980
Where it allegedly happened: On a plane
What she said: Jessica Leeds, a 74-year-old Manhattan resident, told The New York Times that Trump inappropriately touched her “like an octopus” during a flight from Connecticut to New York. According to Leeds, a flight attendant upgraded her to first-class, escorting her to an open seat next to Trump. Once they were airborne, Trump raised the seat divider, grabbed her chest, and attempted to move one of his hands up her skirt, she said.
What Trump said: Trump told a the Times reporter asking about the incident that “none of this ever took place” before calling her a “disgusting human being.” One of his attorneys Tuesday morning demanded an immediate retraction and an apology from the paper. High-ranking sources in the Trump campaign tell CNN’s Brian Stelter and Dylan Byers the campaign has started drafting a lawsuit.
Mindy McGillivray
When it allegedly happened: 2003
Where it allegedly happened: The Mar-a-Lago Club
What she said: Mindy McGillivray, a 36-year-old Palm Springs, Florida, resident, told the Palm Beach Post that Trump groped her 13 years ago when she was assisting a photographer hired to work a concert at the club. “This was a pretty good nudge. More of a grab,” she said. “It was pretty close to the center of my butt. I was startled. I jumped.”
What Trump said: Like with the New York Times, Trump campaign sources have told CNN’s Brian Stelter and Dylan Byers the campaign is drafting a lawsuit against the Florida newspaper.
Rachel Crooks
When it allegedly happened: 2005
Where it allegedly happened: Outside a Trump Tower elevator
What she said: Eleven years ago, Bayrock Group receptionist Rachel Crooks greeted Trump outside a elevator in the building where they both worked. She said she attempted to be cordial to one of her company’s business partners. But after saying hello and shaking hands, she claims Trump kissed her on her cheeks and then on the mouth. “It was so inappropriate,” she told the New York Times. “I was so upset that he thought I was so insignificant that he could do that.”
What Trump said: Jason Miller, a Trump spokesman, called The New York Times article “fiction” on Wednesday night. “For the New York Times to launch a completely false, coordinated character assassination against Mr. Trump on a topic like this is dangerous,” Miller said in a statement, which reacted to both claims. “To reach back decades in an attempt to smear Mr. Trump trivializes sexual assault, and it sets a new low for where the media is willing to go in its efforts to determine this election.”
Natasha Stoynoff
When it allegedly happened: 2005
Where it allegedly happened: The Mar-a-Lago Club
What she said: During an assignment to cover Trump’s one-year wedding anniversary to his wife, Melania, People magazine writer Natasha Stoynoff claims the now-presidential candidate pushed her against a wall, started “forcing his tongue” down her throat, and physically attacked her during a tour of the place. “Now, I’m a tall, strapping girl who grew up wrestling two giant brothers. I even once sparred with Mike Tyson. It takes a lot to push me. But Trump is much bigger — a looming figure — and he was fast, taking me by surprise and throwing me off balance,” she wrote.
What Trump said: Trump’s campaign, which has not responded to CNN’s request for comment, told People that the incident never happened. “There is no merit or veracity to this fabricated story,” a spokeswoman said.
Anonymous
When it allegedly happened: 2010
Where it allegedly happened: Trump Tower
What she said: According to CNN’s Erin Burnett, Trump suggested her friend, who was with him in a Trump Tower boardroom, take some Tic Tacs. Then he leaned in to kiss her on the lips, which caught her off guard. “I was really freaked out,” the woman later told Burnett. After that, Trump invited her into his office alone. He told the woman she was “special” and proceeded to give her his cell phone number. “I ran the hell out of there,” the friend told Burnett.
What Trump said: The Trump campaign has not responded to CNN’s request for comment.
Temple Taggart
When it allegedly happened: 1997
Where it allegedly happened: Shreveport, Louisiana and later at Trump Tower
What she said: The former Miss Utah claims Trump gave her a non-consensual embrace and kissed her on the lips during a rehearsal for the Miss USA Pageant. The beauty contestant was 21 at the time, and Taggart says the behavior was repeated later during a meeting at Trump Tower.
“I felt awkward, and I just remember in my mind going, ‘what does he think this is,'” she told CNN’s Burnett. “Like, I’m thinking he’s married. This is awkward for me. He’s much older. This is not at all what I came here for. So, to me, it was like I hope he knows that I’m here for business. I’m not here for anything other than business.”
What Trump said: “I don’t even know who she is,” Trump told NBC News. “She claims this took place in a public area. I never kissed her. I emphatically deny this ridiculous claim.”
Kristin Anderson
When it allegedly happened: Early 1990s
Where it allegedly happened: A Manhattan nightclub
What she said: Today Anderson is a photographer, but back then she was an aspiring model. She told the Washington Post she was sitting on a couch and talking to friends when, as the Washington Post describes it, “his fingers slid under her miniskirt, moved up her inner thigh, and touched her vagina through her underwear.” She didn’t know Trump, but says she recognized him instantly when she pulled away. CNN has not independently confirmed the claim.
What Trump said: “It is illogical and nonsensical to think Donald Trump was alone in a nightclub in Manhattan and that the alleged incident and recognition of Mr. Trump went unnoticed by both the woman involved and anyone else in this ‘crowded’ venue,'” said Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks, who said it was a “political attack designed to take down Mr. Trump.”
Summer Zervos
When it allegedly happened: 2007
Where it allegedly happened: The Beverly Hills Hotel
What she said: A former Apprentice contestant, Zervos said Trump first kissed her during a meeting in New York, but she was still interested in getting a job at The Trump Organization. She met Trump for dinner in Los Angeles and says that she was escorted into a room next to where he was getting dressed. Zervos claims he later kissed her “very aggressively and placed his hand on my breast.” Zervos said she still had dinner with Trump and later called him to inquire about getting a job. She made the allegations during a press conference with the attorney Gloria Allred. CNN has not independently verified this claim.
What Trump said: “I vaguely remember Ms. Zervos as one of the many contestants on The Apprentice over the years,” Trump said in a statement. “To be clear, I never met her at a hotel or greeted her inappropriately a decade ago. That is not who I am as a person, and it is not how I’ve conducted my life. In fact, Ms. Zervos continued to contact me for help, emailing my office on April 14th of this year asking that I visit her restaurant in California.”
Cathy Heller
When it allegedly happened: 1997
Where it allegedly happened: Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Club
What she said: Heller, now 63, says she met Trump at Mar-a-Lago almost 20 years ago during a Mother’s Day brunch, she told The Guardian newspaper. Heller said she had been introduced to Trump by her mother-in-law. She says Trump “took my hand, and grabbed me, and went for the lips,” without her consent. She said Trump held her in place and kissed her. The Guardian reported that it spoke to a friend who Heller told about the incident and a relative who witnessed part of it. CNN has not been able to independently confirm Heller’s claims.
What Trump said: Jason Miller, a spokesman for Trump’s campaign, said in a statement there was “no way” Heller’s account is true. “The media has gone too far in making this false accusation,” Miller said in a statement. “There is no way that something like this would have happened in a public place on Mother’s Day at Mr. Trump’s resort. It would have been the talk of Palm Beach for the past two decades. The reality is this: for the media to wheel out a politically motivated Democratic activist with a legal dispute against this same resort owned by Mr. Trump does a disservice to the public, and anyone covering this story should be embarrassed for elevating this bogus claim.”
Jill Harth
When it allegedly happened: 1992-1993
Where it allegedly happened: A Manhattan nightclub and later at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Club
What she said: Harth and her then-boyfriend, George Houraney, entered into a business venture with Donald Trump which included holding an event at one of the real estate magnate’s Atlantic City casinos. Donald Trump made unwanted sexual advances towards her, including groping her under her skirt on two different occasions in 1992 and 1993 during their initial meetings, according to Harth’s lawyer, Lisa Bloom.
What Trump said: Trump’s spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, said in a statement to CNN: “Mr. Trump denies each and every statement made by Ms. Harth. These 24 year old allegations lack any merit or veracity, as evidenced by her repeated requests for employment, attempts to seek out Mr. Trump, and her support of Mr. Trump’s candidacy.” The Trump campaign has shared emails from Harth, the last one from January of this year, in which she thanks Trump and offers up her support for his presidential run.Â
Jessica Drake
When it allegedly happened: 2006
Where it allegedly happened: In a hotel suite at a charity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada
What she said: Drake, an adult film performer and director, said he invited her to his suite and she brought two other women because she did not feel comfortable attending alone. She said he hugged and kissed each of them without permission. Drake said she left after 30-45 minutes but later received a phone call from Trump, who asked her to return and go out to dinner or attend a party with him. When she declined, he offered her $10,000 and use of his private jet if she accepted. At a news conference on October 22, Drake’s lawyer displayed a photo of Trump and Drake together.
What Trump said: The Trump campaign issued a statement that said in part: “This story is totally false and ridiculous. The picture is one of thousands taken out of respect for people asking to have their picture taken with Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump does not know this person, does not remember this person and would have no interest in ever knowing her. This is just another attempt by the Clinton campaign to defame a candidate who just today is number one in three different polls.”
