Donald Trump’s Amy Dorris scandal explodes
Four years ago, when Donald Trump issued a bizarre video to apologize for his 2005 Access Hollywood tape comments to host Billy Bush, he insisted, “Anyone who knows me know these words don’t reflect who I am.” However, a new sexual assault allegation today from a woman who feels “sick” and “violated” by Trump reminds us — yet again — just how much Trump’s words do reflect who he is.
The Guardian reported this morning that former model Amy Dorris has accused Trump of assaulting her at the U.S. Open in New York City in 1997. In an exclusive interview, Dorris recalled how Trump locked her in an inescapable grip when she encountered him outside the bathroom in his VIP box, apparently waiting for her. Dorris explained that as Trump groped her “all over my butt, my breasts, my back, everything,” she could not break free and struggled to push Trump’s tongue out of her throat with her teeth.
Dorris pointed out that Trump, married to Marla Maples at the time, assaulted her even though she attended the sporting event as Trump’s friend’s date. Trump “came on very strong right away” as someone who feels “entitled to do what they want… even though I was there with my boyfriend,” she told the Guardian. Dorris added that when she begged Trump to “please stop,” he simply “didn’t care.”
Dorris first confided this story to the Guardian 15 months ago. Part of the reason why she decided to go forward now with her allegation was to set an example for her daughters about the importance of standing up to sexual predators. Although Dorris has offered evidence such as photos and corroborating accounts to back up her story, Trump’s lawyers are denying everything “in the strongest possible terms” while accusing Dorris of being politically motivated.
This disturbing allegation is the latest of so many highly credible ones against Trump that reflect his words on the Access Hollywood tape with uncanny accuracy. On that tape, Trump recounted an apparent sexual assault (“I moved on her, and I failed… I moved on her like a bitch”) before arrogantly justifying his predatory behavior (“I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything… Grab ‘em by the pussy. You can do anything.”).
Although Trump and his Republican toadies casually mansplained Trump’s words to the public as “locker room talk,” they were not random misogynistic utterances from the mouth of a supposedly moral leader. Trump’s words were exactly what they sounded like: a true reflection of this abusive, deviant man. Dorris’ tragic story is another painful reminder that we have a violent, repulsive monster in the Oval Office who never should have been there in the first place. Trump and his tongue belong in a cage.
Ron Leshnower is a lawyer and the author of several books, including President Trump’s Month