October surprises are no surprises in the 2024 presidential election
Last week, a self-described “Democratic strategist.” posted on X: “I learned that Trump groped a minor at one of his donors’ dinners — and there was video.” The next day, Stacey Williams, a woman who briefly dated Jeffrey Epstein, was on CNN and impeached the former president Donald Trump about groping her at Trump Tower in front of Epstein in 1993. (CNN spoke to three people with whom Williams discussed the alleged assault, and NBC News spoke to seven people.) Also that day, the Daily Mail published an anonymous account by a woman saying that the second gentleman Doug Emhoff “slapped” her in 2012, supporting an earlier report on the recounted allegations. In a statement, Trump’s campaign denied the allegations involving Epstein, calling it a “fake story.” [that] created by the Harris campaign” but did not respond to the social media storm surrounding the strategist’s message, perhaps because there were no accusers and no clear accusations. And although Harris’ campaign initially denied the story about Emhoff’s ex, told Semafor, “Any suggestion that he would or has ever hit women is false,” they said, declining to discuss the new direct allegations.
It’s late October in a presidential election, and both sides are surprising each other. Unlike the obvious grenades of previous cycles, such as the horrifying footage of Trump describing what he believes are his rights. “grab them by the pu–y” and next jerked back of the Republican Party, these new allegations seem less surprising because of the context in which they exist.
Women accusing Trump of unwanted sexual advances are so common that the public seems to have become accustomed to the new information, like discovering another melting iceberg during a once-in-100-year hurricane season. time. Trump’s accusers include his deceased ex-wife, Ivana, who during his 1991 deposition accused Trump of rape (which she recanted) and is now buried at one of his golf courses, to E. Jean Carroll, Who was awarded? 83.3 million USD in two sexual abuse and defamation cases, after a jury found in her favor and a judge ruled that her claim that Trump “raped” her was “substantially true.”
Williams, a retired model, alleges that Trump and Epstein smiled at each other while “Trump’s hands started moving and they were on the side of my breast, on my hip, back to my butt.” (Epstein died by suicide in prison, while awaiting trial for sex trafficking of minors.) Williams’ account has similar elements to previous stories 26 women who accused Trump of sexual impropriety: suddenly intruding into an intimate space to which he seemed to feel entitled. (Trump has denied all the allegations.) The misogynistic, dehumanizing language Trump uses when describing women cannot be ignored: horse face, monster, dog, disgusting. (Campaign has a little more restraint than its replacements toward a vulgar term. Elon MuskPro-Trump PAC published later deleted an article mentioned Kamala Harris as the C-word. Before Trump’s Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden, a staffer reportedly cut out a joke Where are the comedians? Tony Hinchcliffe would call Harris a “c-nt,” although not one of whom Hinchcliffe calls Puerto Rico “Floating trash island.”)
Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida, 1997.by Davidoff Studios/Getty Images.
New rumors about Trump “groping a minor” remain unproven. Keith Edwards, The person who posted about the alleged video has not responded Vanity fairrequest for comment, leaving many questions unanswered. How old is the accused minor? Which sponsor hosted the event where the groping allegedly took place? In which election cycle did it happen? Who recorded the video and why didn’t they share it publicly? How did Edwards know about it? As the Trump campaign pointed out, Edwards received a one-time payment of $1,000 for social media work from the Democratic campaign in April of this year, according to a report. Submit FEC application. (The Harris campaign declined to comment.)
Similar accusations have been made against Trump in the past. Year Miss Teen America candidate told Buzz Feed that Trump entered the dressing room while the teens were changing, and a Miss America contestant recounted the New York Times he kissed her on the lips without consent when she was 21 years old. But there was also the so-called “piss tape” — an alleged incident in the Steele dossier in which Russian intelligence agents allegedly filmed Trump watching prostitutes urinate on each other at the Moscow Ritz-Carlton . the ice never materialized.
