Columnist E. Jean Carroll Accuses Trump of Violent Sexual Assault In Harrowing NY Mag Article
New York magazine’s The Cut published an excerpt on Friday from longtime advice columnist E. Jean Carroll’s forthcoming memoir What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal on Friday. In it, Carroll—whose “Ask E. Jean” column has run in Elle magazine for more than two decades—accuses President Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her in a department store dressing room 23 years ago.
Carroll describes an encounter with Trump at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York.
“Hey, you’re that advice lady!,” Carroll says Trump exclaimed when he saw her, before asking her to help him shop for a gift for “a girl.”
After some innocuous banter between the two, Carroll says she found herself alone with Trump. In harrowing, and upsetting detail, she describes what allegedly happened next (warning: disturbing content):
The next moment, still wearing correct business attire, shirt, tie, suit jacket, overcoat, he opens the overcoat, unzips his pants, and, forcing his fingers around my private area, thrusts his penis halfway — or completely, I’m not certain — inside me. It turns into a colossal struggle. I am wearing a pair of sturdy black patent-leather four-inch Barneys high heels, which puts my height around six-one, and I try to stomp his foot. I try to push him off with my one free hand — for some reason, I keep holding my purse with the other — and I finally get a knee up high enough to push him out and off and I turn, open the door, and run out of the dressing room.
The whole episode lasts no more than three minutes. I do not believe he ejaculates. I don’t remember if any person or attendant is now in the lingerie department. I don’t remember if I run for the elevator or if I take the slow ride down on the escalator. As soon as I land on the main floor, I run through the store and out the door — I don’t recall which door — and find myself outside on Fifth Avenue.
Carroll claims she immediately told two friends—both of whom she says confirmed her account to the magazine. One, she says, urged her to report the incident to the police; the other said, “tell no one. Forget it! He has 200 lawyers. He’ll bury you.” Carroll eventually declined to go to the cops.
As Carroll notes multiple times in her account, Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct—including assault—by a long list of other women, and denied each allegation (although he infamously admitted to committing sexual assault when he bragged about grabbing women “by the pussy” to Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush).
I have reached out to the White House for comment on Carroll’s allegation, and will update this story if they respond.
Read the full story at The Cut.