At least 24 women have accused the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, of inappropriate sexual behavior in multiple incidents spanning the last 30 years.
Of those, 12 have accused Trump of sexual misconduct, including groping and kissing them without permission
During the second presidential debate, Trump denied ever having kissed and touched women without their consent, following the release of a 2005 video in which Trump bragged about how he could grab women’s genitals and “just start kissing” women with impunity because he was famous.
“Have you ever done those things?” moderator Anderson Cooper asked in the second debate.
“No I have not,” Trump said. His statement arguably opened the floodgates.
Trump has denied the women’s accusations, dismissing them as “lies” and “fabrications”.
In the final presidential debate, Trump suggested that the rush of accusations was either orchestrated by the Clinton campaign or the product of women seeking “10 minutes of fame”. He previously called his accusers “horrible, horrible liars”.
Here is a timeline of allegations of inappropriate behavior by Trump, many of which have only been made public in recent days.
1980s
Who: Jessica Leeds
When the allegations became public: 12 October 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: around 1980
What allegedly happened: The now 74-year-old told the New York Times that Trump groped her on a plane after she sat next to him in a first-class cabin during a business trip to New York more than 30 years ago. She says Trump lifted the armrest between them and then touched her breasts and attempted to put his hands up her skirt. “It was an assault,” she told the Times. “He was like an octopus … His hands were everywhere.”
Trump’s response: Trump denies the incident took place. “This entire article is fiction, and for the New York Times to launch a completely false, coordinated character assassination against Mr Trump on a topic like this is dangerous,” said the Trump campaign in a statement.
His lawyers have sent a letter to the New York Times demanding a retraction and threatening further legal action. The New York Times is standing by its story.
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)The phony story in the failing @nytimes is a TOTAL FABRICATION. Written by same people as last discredited story on women. WATCH!
October 13, 2016
Who: Ivana Trump
When the allegations became public: 1993
When the incident allegedly took place: 1989
What allegedly happened: Trump’s first wife Ivana said that she had been raped by her then husband after an argument, according to her divorce deposition, a claim which was reported in a 1993 book called Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J Trump. As a condition of her divorce settlement, Ivana is not allowed to comment publicly on her marriage without Trump’s permission. The book was printed with a statement from Ivana clarifying the incident:
[O]n one occasion during 1989, Mr Trump and I had marital relations in which he behaved very differently toward me than he had during our marriage. As a woman, I felt violated, as the love and tenderness, which he normally exhibited towards me, was absent. I referred to this as a ‘rape’, but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.
Trump’s response: “You’re talking about the frontrunner for the GOP, presidential candidate, as well as a private individual who never raped anybody,” Michael Cohen, special counsel at the Trump Organization, told the Daily Beast when it reported on the comments in July 2015. He also threatened to sue if the Daily Beast published a story on the allegations, although no legal action took place.
1990s
Who: Unnamed young girl
When the allegations became public: 12 October 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: 1992
What allegedly happened: Video from a 1992 Entertainment Tonight Christmas special emerged, in which Trump, who was 46 at the time, is heard talking to a young child. Trump asks if she is going up the escalator. When she tells him she is, he responds – and it’s not clear exactly who he’s talking to, as Trump’s face doesn’t appear onscreen – “I’m going to be dating her in 10 years. Can you believe it?”
Trump’s response: Trump has not spoken about the incident and did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.
Who: Jill Harth
When the allegations became public: 1997
When the incident allegedly took place: 1992-93
What allegedly happened: Harth, a makeup artist, gave a presentation to Trump at his offices in Trump Tower with her then romantic (and business) partner George Houraney. She said Trump made advances on her, including groping her under the table during a dinner the following night at the Plaza Hotel.
In January 1993, Harth and Houraney travelled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida to celebrate their business deal. During a tour of the property, Trump pulled Harth into one of the children’s bedrooms, she claimed.
“He pushed me up against the wall, and had his hands all over me and tried to get up my dress again,” Harth said in an interview with the Guardian in July, “and I had to physically say: ‘What are you doing? Stop it.’ It was a shocking thing to have him do this because he knew I was with George, he knew they were in the next room. And how could he be doing this when I’m there for business?”
Harth filed a lawsuit against Trump in 1997 alleging the harassment, which she later dropped. The pair then briefly dated in 1998.
Trump’s response: “Mr Trump denies each and every statement made by Ms Harth as these 24-year-old allegations lack any merit or veracity,” his campaign said in July.
Who: Kristin Anderson
When the allegations became public: 14 October 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: early 1990s
What allegedly happened: Anderson told the Washington Post she was at China Club, a Manhattan nightclub, when Trump put his hand up her skirt while she sat on a couch speaking with friends.
“This is the vivid part for me. The person on my right, who unbeknownst to me at that time was Donald Trump, put their hand up my skirt. He did touch my vagina through my underwear,” said Anderson.
“As I push the hand away, I got up and I turned around and I see these eyebrows. Very distinct eyebrows of Donald Trump.”
Anderson noted that her friends also identified the man as Trump.
Trump’s response: “Mr Trump strongly denies this phoney allegation by someone looking to get some free publicity,” said spokeswoman Hope Hicks in a statement. “It is totally ridiculous.”
At a rally in North Carolina, Trump appeared to reference the event. “One came out recently [that said] I was sitting alone in a club, I don’t sit alone in a club … it’s unbelievable,” he said.
Who: Lisa Boyne
When the allegations became public: 13 October 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: 1996
What allegedly happened: Boyne, now a health food entrepreneur, told the Huffington Post she witnessed Trump looking up women’s skirts and commenting on their underwear and genitalia at a dinner.
Then 25 and a thinktank employee, Boyne said she was invited to dinner with Trump, John Casablancas, the late modeling agent, and other women. Seated at a semi-circular table with Trump on one end and Casablancas on the other, she said the men refused to get up to allow the women to leave the table and instead made them walk across it. Trump “stuck his head right underneath their skirts” though he didn’t do that to her because she was not a model, she said.
One woman who was at the dinner, when contacted by the Huffington Post, confirmed it took place but did not recall this behavior from Trump. A roommate of Boyne’s denied that she called her that night.
Trump’s response: Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for Trump, told the Huffington Post: “Mr Trump never heard of this woman and would never do that.”
Who: Cathy Heller
When the allegations became public: 15 October 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: 1997
What allegedly happened: Heller was attending a Mother’s Day brunch at Mar-a-Lago when, she said, she met Trump and he immediately kissed her on the lips, fighting her when she pulled away.
“He took my hand, and grabbed me, and went for the lips,” said Heller. She leaned backwards to avoid the kiss. “And he said, ‘Oh, come on.’ He was strong. And he grabbed me and went for my mouth and went for my lips.”
Trump then kissed her on the side of her mouth, she claimed.
“He was pissed. He couldn’t believe a woman would pass up the opportunity,” she said.
Trump’s response: “There is no way that something like this would have happened in a public place on Mother’s Day at Mr Trump’s resort,” said spokesman Jason Miller. “It would have been the talk of Palm Beach for the past two decades.”
Who: Temple Taggart
When the allegations became public: 14 May 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: 1997
What allegedly happened: The former Miss Utah told the New York Times that when she was a 21-year-old pageant contestant, Trump kissed her on the mouth when she was introduced to him.
“He kissed me directly on the lips. I thought, ‘Oh my God, gross.’ He was married to Marla Maples at the time. I think there were a few other girls that he kissed on the mouth. I was like, ‘Wow, that’s inappropriate,” she told the newspaper.
Trump also kissed her on the mouth during a meeting at Trump Tower, she claimed, where he recommended the 21-year-old lie about her age to advance her career. “We’re going to have to tell them you’re 17,” she recalled him saying.
Trump’s response: Trump disputed the allegation, with the New York Times reporting he said “he is reluctant to kiss strangers on the lips”.
Who: Mariah Billado and four other anonymous former Miss Teen USA contestants
When the allegations became public: 12 October 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: 1997
What allegedly happened: Former 1997 Miss Teen USA contestants said Trump walked into the dressing room while contestants, some as young as 15, were changing. Billado recalled that Trump, the new owner of the contest, announced : “Don’t worry, ladies, I’ve seen it all before.”
“I remember putting on my dress really quick because I was like, ‘Oh my God, there’s a man in here’,” the former Miss Vermont Teen USA told Buzzfeed.
Trump’s response: Trump did not respond to Buzzfeed’s report and did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.
Who: Karena Virginia
When the allegations became public: 20 October 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: 1998
What allegedly happened: Virginia, a yoga instructor and life coach, was waiting for a car after the US Open in New York, when, she said, Trump touched her breast.
“He was with a few other men. I was quite surprised when I overheard him talking to the other men about me. ‘Hey, look at this one,’ he said. ‘We haven’t seen her before. Look at those legs.’ As though I was an object rather than a person,” recalled Virginia, who said she had never met Trump before.
In a press conference with her lawyer, Gloria Allred, she said Trump then walked up to her, “reached his right arm and grabbed my right arm. Then his hand touched the right side of my breast.
“I was in shock. I flinched. ‘Don’t you know who I am? Don’t you know who I am?’ That’s what he said to me. I felt intimidated and I felt powerless.”
Virginia was 28 when the alleged incident occurred.
Trump’s response: “Discredited political operative Gloria Allred, in another coordinated, publicity seeking attack with the Clinton campaign, will stop at nothing to smear Mr Trump. Give me a break. Voters are tired of these circus-like antics and reject these fictional stories and the clear efforts to benefit Hillary Clinton,” said Jessica Ditto, Trump’s deputy communications director.
2000s
Who: Bridget Sullivan
When the allegations became public: 18 May 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: 2000
What allegedly happened: While she was competing as Miss New Hampshire at the 2000 Miss USA contest, Sullivan said, Trump, then owner of the contest, came backstage while contestants were changing. “The time that he walked through the dressing rooms was really shocking. We were all naked,” she told Buzzfeed.
Trump’s response: Spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in May the allegations were “totally false”.
However, in a 2005 appearance on Howard Stern’s radio show unearthed by CNN, Trump bragged about walking into contestants’ dressing rooms at pageants.
“Well, I’ll tell you the funniest is that before a show, I’ll go backstage and everyone’s getting dressed, and everything else, and you know, no men are anywhere, and I’m allowed to go in because I’m the owner of the pageant and therefore I’m inspecting it,” Trump told Stern.
“You know, I’m inspecting because I want to make sure that everything is good. You know, the dresses. ‘Is everyone OK?’ You know, they’re standing there with no clothes. ‘Is everybody OK?’ And you see these incredible looking women, and so, I sort of get away with things like that.”
Who: Tasha Dixon
When the allegations became public: 12 October 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: 2001
What allegedly happened: The former Miss Arizona told Los Angeles’s CBS affiliate Trump walked through the Miss USA dressing room in 2001 while contestants were naked and changing.
“He just came strolling right in,” Dixon said. “There was no second to put a robe on or any sort of clothing or anything. Some girls were topless. Others girls were naked. Our first introduction to him was when we were at the dress rehearsal and half-naked changing into our bikinis.”
Trump’s response: His campaign released a statement denying the allegation:
These accusations have no merit and have already been disproven by many other individuals who were present. When you see questionable attacks like this magically put out there in the final month of a presidential campaign, you have to ask yourself what the political motivations are and why the media is pushing it.
Who: Unnamed Miss USA 2001 contestant
When the allegations became public: 13 October 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: 2001
What allegedly happened: Trump walked into the shared dressing room of two Miss USA 2001 contestants while they were changing, even though security warned him the women were naked, one of the women said in an interview with the Guardian.
“Mr Trump just barged right in, didn’t say anything, stood there and stared at us,” she recalled.
“He didn’t walk in and say, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry, I was looking for someone,’” she added. “He walked in, he stood and he stared. He was doing it because he knew that he could.”
Trump’s response: The Trump campaign did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.
Who: Mindy McGillivray
When the allegation became public: 12 October 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: 24 January 2003
What allegedly happened: McGillivray told the Palm Beach Post Trump groped her while she was assisting a photographer friend working at an event at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Ken Davidoff, who was Mar-a-Lago’s official photographer, said he remembered McGillivray telling him on the night: “Donald just grabbed my ass!”
She recalled the incident to Palm Beach Post. “All of a sudden I felt a grab, a little nudge. I think it’s Ken’s camera bag, that was my first instinct. I turn around and there’s Donald. He sort of looked away quickly. I quickly turned back, facing Ray Charles, and I’m stunned,” said McGillivray.
Trump’s response: The Trump campaign did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.
What: Access Hollywood leaked footage from 2005
When the allegation became public: 8 October 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: 2005
What allegedly happened: Leaked tapes from Access Hollywood in the Washington Post reveal Trump, boasting to then host Billy Bush, that being famous means he can touch and kiss women without their permission.
Actor Arianne Zucker arrives to take Trump and Bush on a tour of the set of Days of Our Lives, and the men start speaking about her. She cannot hear them.
“I’ve got to use some Tic Tacs, just in case I start kissing her,” Trump said. “You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful – I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait.”
“And when you’re a star, they let you do it,” Trump adds. “You can do anything.”
“Whatever you want,” said Bush.
“Grab them by the pussy,” Trump said. “You can do anything.”
Trump’s response: Trump recorded an apology video, published on social media, saying he “regretted” the comments.
“Anyone who knows me knows these words don’t reflect who I am,” he said. “I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize.”
During the subsequent presidential debate he dismissed the comments as “locker-room talk” and said he had never kissed or grabbed women without their consent.
Who: Rachel Crooks
When the allegations became public: 12 October 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: 2005
What allegedly happened: Crooks, then a 22-year-old receptionist at real estate firm Bayrock Group, whose offices are in Trump Tower, said she introduced herself to Trump outside the building’s elevator one morning. Trump began kissing her cheeks, and then “kissed me directly on the mouth”, she told the Times.
“It was so inappropriate … I was so upset that he thought I was so insignificant that he could do that,” said Crooks.
Trump’s response: Trump’s campaign manager said he intended to sue the New York Times over the story and had asked for a retraction. In a tweet and at a rally in Florida, Trump repeated that the story was “a total fabrication”.
Who: Natasha Stoynoff
When the allegations became public: 12 October 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: December 2005
What allegedly happened: People Magazine reporter Natasha Stoynoff said she was sent to Mar-a-Lago to interview Trump for a story about his first wedding anniversary with Melania, where he forced himself on to her.
“We walked into that room alone, and Trump shut the door behind us. I turned around, and within seconds he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat,” wrote Stoynoff.
“You know we’re going to have an affair, don’t you?” she said Trump told her. He then turned up at the salon where she was due to get a massage the following day.
Trump’s response: At a Florida rally, Trump denied the incident took place, following an earlier tweet:
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)Why didn't the writer of the twelve year old article in People Magazine mention the "incident" in her story. Because it did not happen!
October 13, 2016
Who: Ninni Laaksonen
When the allegations became public: 27 October 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: 2006
What allegedly happened: Laaksonen, a former Miss Finland in the Miss Universe competition, said Trump groped her during a photoshoot for an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman.
“Trump stood right next to me and suddenly he squeezed my butt. He really grabbed my butt,” she told Ilta-Sanomat, a Finnish newspaper. “I don’t think anybody saw it, but I flinched and thought: ‘What is happening?’”
Laaksonen said: “Somebody told me there that Trump liked me because I looked like Melania when she was younger. It left me disgusted.”
Trump’s response: The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Who: Jessica Drake
When the allegations became public: 22 October 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: 2006
What allegedly happened: Drake, a pornographic film actor and sex educator, said Trump kissed her and two female friends on the lips without permission and then offered her $10,000 to have dinner with him and attend a party, after they met at a golf event.
“He asked me for my phone number, which I gave to him,” she said at a press conference. “Later that evening, he invited me to his room. I said I didn’t feel right going alone, so two other women came with me. In the penthouse suite, I met Donald again. When we entered the room he grabbed each of us tightly in a hug and kissed each of us on the lips without asking for permission. He was wearing pyjamas.”
A man later called on Trump’s behalf asking her to return to his room, she said, and she refused. Trump then called her. “Donald then asked me ‘What do you want?’ ‘How much?’” said Drake. She declined, she said, and a man called and offered her $10,000 and the use of Trump’s private jet.
Trump’s response: After Drake came forward, Trump issued a dismissive statement. He also dismissed all claims against him in an interview with New Hampshire Today: “These are stories that are made up, this is total fiction. You’ll find out that, in the years to come, these women that stood up, it was all fiction.”
He then specifically mentioned Drake, saying sarcastically he was sure no one had harassed her before: “And she’s a porn star. You know, this one that came out recently, ‘He grabbed me and he grabbed me on the arm.’ Oh, I’m sure she’s never been grabbed before.”
Who: Summer Zervos
When the allegations became public: 14 October 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: 2007
What allegedly happened: Zervos, a contestant on The Apprentice, accused Trump of groping and kissing her on two occasions.
During a meeting at Trump Tower, she said, Trump greeted Zervos and said goodbye to her by kissing her on the mouth. Later in the year, she said, she met Trump for dinner in Los Angeles, and met him at his hotel beforehand.
“He came to me and started kissing me open-mouthed and he pulled me towards him,” said Zervos. “He then grabbed my shoulder and began kissing me again very aggressively and placed his hand on my breast … he walked up, grabbed my hand, and walked me into the bedroom.”
After she rebuked him, she said, he thrust his genitals towards her.
Trump’s response: In a statement, Trump said he “vaguely remembered” Zervos but “never met her at a hotel or greeted her inappropriately a decade ago”.
2010s
Who: Unnamed woman
When the allegations became public: 8 October 2016
When the incident allegedly took place: 2010
What allegedly happened: A friend of CNN anchor Erin Burnett recounted the story to Burnett about a meeting in a boardroom at Trump Tower where Trump tried to kiss her on the mouth.
“Trump took Tic Tacs, suggested I take them also. He then leaned in, catching me off guard, and kissed me almost on lips. I was really freaked out,” the woman said, according to Burnett.
“After, Trump asked me to come into his office alone. Was really unsure what to do. … Figured I could handle myself. Anyway, once in his office he kept telling me how special I am and gave me his cell, asked me to call him. I ran the hell out of there,” Burnett reported the woman saying.
Trump’s response: Trump did not respond to CNN’s report and did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.
Who: Cassandra Searles
When the allegations became public: 17 June2016
When the incident allegedly took place: 2013
What allegedly happened: Searles, Miss Washington State 2013, posted a photo to Facebook of Trump posing with her and her fellow contestants from the Miss USA 2013 contest.
“He probably doesn’t want me telling the story about that time he continually grabbed my ass and invited me to his hotel room,” Searles wrote in the comments under the photo, reported Yahoo.
“Do y’all remember that one time we had to do our onstage introductions, but this one guy treated us like cattle and made us do it again because we didn’t look him in the eyes? Do you also remember when he then proceeded to have us lined up so he could get a closer look at his property?” she wrote alongside the photo.
Other contestants chimed in agreeing with Searles, with one noting her story was “so extremely true and scary”.
Trump’s response: Trump did not respond to Yahoo’s report and did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.
