More than 20 women have accused Donald Trump of either sexually assaulting or sexually harassing them, and a new poll by Quinnipiac found that the majority of U.S. women — 59% — think the allegations are grounds for him to resign from the presidency. On the other side, 41% of men think he should step down for the same reason.
The responses were strongly divided along party lines. While 85% of Democrats responded that Trump should quit, only 7% of Republicans supported with the idea.
Trump has repeatedly denied the accusations made against him, but his own words and actions don’t exactly make him look good. The infamous Access Hollywood tape has him on record admitting to “not even [waiting]” to kiss and touch women he found attractive upon meeting them.
Old interviews of Trump also confirm some of the accusations made against him. Last October, five Miss Teen USA contestants told BuzzFeed that Trump unexpectedly walked in on them while they were getting dressed for the pageant in 1997. In a 2005 Howard Stern interview, Trump bragged about taking advantage of his role as the owner of pageants to walk in on the contestants:
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
“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. You know, I’m inspecting because I want to make sure that everything is good. You know, they’re standing there with no clothes. ‘Is everybody okay?’ And you see these incredible looking women, and so, I sort of get away with things like that.â€
Trump and the White House have made numerous statements pretty much painting his long list of accusers as liars, all while the president simultaneously celebrates several of his perceived opponents over the years — such as former NBC anchor Matt Lauer — being exposed and losing their jobs for allegedly committing sexual misconduct.
Recently, numerous Democratic senators have called on the president to resign over the allegations.
