--- title: Donald Trump Accusers Speak Out on Megyn Kelly Today description: Three women who accused Donald Trump of sexual harassment revisited their allegations a year later, this time amid the #MeToo movement. canonical: https://time.com/5058369/donald-trump-megyn-kelly-accusers/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-11T16:24:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T23:42:00.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: 3 Women Who Accused Trump of Sexual Harassment Want Their Stories Heard Anew og:description: 'It hurt,' one said of Trump winning the White House despite their allegations og:url: https://time.com/5058369/donald-trump-megyn-kelly-accusers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1aceff5cf1d9660/6988f497656a3f4e1abd2cba/gettyimages-888701696.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5438 og:image:height: 3059 og:image:alt: President Donald Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 3 Women Who Accused Trump of Sexual Harassment Want Their Stories Heard Anew twitter:description: 'It hurt,' one said of Trump winning the White House despite their allegations twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1aceff5cf1d9660/6988f497656a3f4e1abd2cba/gettyimages-888701696.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'It Hurt.' 3 Women Who Accused Trump of Sexual Harassment Want Their Stories Heard Anew > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=aa81490b-c2d4-408d-b61c-9048bde9b73f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 3 Women Who Accused Trump of Sexual Harassment Share Their Stories on Megyn Kelly Today [Watch (HLS stream): 3 Women Who Accused Trump of Sexual Harassment Share Their Stories on Megyn Kelly Today](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dO566Fue.m3u8) (2:29)  _Published 2017-12-11. Samantha Holvey, who said last year that Donald Trump personally “inspected” her before the Miss USA pageant a decade earlier, said it was “heartbreaking” when the business mogul was elected President of the United States._  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Updated: Dec 12, 2023 11:42 PM UTCPublished: Dec 11, 2017 4:24 PM UTC Samantha Holvey, who said last year that Donald Trump personally “inspected” her before the Miss USA pageant a decade earlier, said it was “heartbreaking” when the business mogul was elected President of the United States.  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Updated: Dec 12, 2023 11:42 PM UTCPublished: Dec 11, 2017 4:24 PM UTC Samantha Holvey, who said last year that [Donald Trump personally “inspected” her](http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/13/politics/donald-trump-miss-usa-contestant/index.html) before the Miss USA pageant a decade earlier, said it was “heartbreaking” when the business mogul was elected President of the United States despite facing several allegations of sexual harassment. But now, she says: “The environment’s different. Let’s try again.” Holvey appeared Monday morning on [_Megyn Kelly Today_](https://www.today.com/video/trump-groped-and-kissed-me-on-airplane-woman-tells-megyn-kelly-1113828419958) with Jessica Leeds and Rachel Crooks, two other Trump accusers who are hoping a sea change in the national discussion around sexual misconduct will help their stories find a more receptive audience than last year. Leeds said that [Trump groped her and kissed her without her consent](https://www.npr.org/2016/10/14/497953012/jumped-out-of-my-skin-trump-accuser-jessica-leeds-on-why-she-came-forward) on an airplane in the 1970s, while Crooks said that [Trump kissed her on the mouth](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/us/politics/trumps-female-accusers-feel-forgotten-a-lawsuit-may-change-that.html) in 2005 while she was an employee at Trump Tower. [At least 19 women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct.](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/12/what-about-the-19-women-who-accused-trump/547724/) > [](https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/940221887212392448) Trump has repeatedly denied all allegations. The White House told _Megyn Kelly Today_ in a statement: “These false claims, totally disputed in most cases by eyewitness accounts, were addressed at length during last year’s campaign, and the American people voiced their judgement by delivering a decisive victory. The timing and absurdity of these false claims speaks volumes and the publicity tour that has begun only further confirms the political motives behind them.” > [](https://twitter.com/albamonica/status/940226767423451137) Leeds said that when she realized Trump would actually run for president in 2015, she began telling everyone about what she says he did to her. Leeds, who told Kelly that she’s a Democrat, said she didn’t think she had the power to derail his campaign. “I wanted people to know what kind of person Trump really is — what a pervert he is,” she said. “I think his core supporters do know — but he’s their dog, and they’re going to stick with their dog.” Since [allegations against Harvey Weinstein](http://time.com/4979258/harvey-weinstein-what-happens-next/) broke in October, several other prominent men, including [politicians](http://time.com/5033751/sexual-harassment-politicians-roy-moore-al-franken/), have faced accusations of sexual harassment and misconduct. Some, like Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken and Arizona Republican Rep. Trent Franks, have [lost their jobs](http://time.com/5053867/sexual-misconduct-men-women-replacements/). **Read more**: [The Silence Breakers of the #MeToo Movement Are the 2017 TIME Person of the Year](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2017-silence-breakers/) Some women accusing Trump [have said it’s frustrating](https://www.buzzfeed.com/kendalltaggart/watching-harvey-weinstein-fall-trumps-accusers-feel?utm%5Fterm=.ibebXxDgy#.xvLL93okP) that Trump hasn’t faced any consequences his alleged behavior. “For us to put ourselves out there to try to show America who this man is and especially how he views women and for them to say ‘Meh, we don’t care,’” Holvey told Kelly. “It hurt.” Now the women accusing Trump want to put their allegations back in the spotlight. On Monday, several women who accused Trump [will call on Congress to investigate their allegations](http://time.com/5058447/donald-trump-sexual-misconduct-women-press-conference/). Some Democratic lawmakers [have called on Trump to resign](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/12/10/in-frankens-wake-three-senators-call-on-president-trump-to-resign/?utm%5Fterm=.03947d456dc5). And Nikki Haley, Trump’s Ambassador to the United Nations, said Sunday that the women accusing Trump [deserve to be heard](http://time.com/5057890/nikki-haley-sexual-misconduct-trump/). “Let’s try round two,” Holvey said. ## Transcript [00:00] I sat right out front, behind glass doors and he used [00:04] the elevator bank to get to his residence right outside [00:07] our office. So I would see him almost daily waiting for [00:10] his elevator. And on one day I decided to introduce [00:14] myself because I did see him regularly. And he shook [00:18] my hand and he gave me the normal double cheek [00:22] kiss and but then he held on to my hand and he kept [00:26] kissing me. You know he kept asking me maybe a [00:29] question, where are you from? And kissing me again. [00:32] Where is this, where is this happening? Right outside [00:34] the elevators, right outside my office. So he kept [00:37] kissing you? Yeah, he went, I don't know how many [00:39] times back and forth, multiple. And then he kissed me [00:43] on the lips and I was shocked, yeah. I mean, [00:47] devastated, it happened so fast I guess [00:51] and I didnt really I wish I have been crazy enough [00:55] to be like, what's going on? You need to stop this. But I [01:00] think ultimately he got on his elevator and I ran back [01:03] into the office. Then I remember hiding in our [01:08] bosses office because no one else was there. It was [01:11] early in the morning. And I called my sister and I was [01:14] like, I don't know what just happened but I felt. [01:17] Horrible. They served a meal, and after the meal was [01:21] cleared, all of a sudden, he [01:25] was all over me. Kissing and groping, and groping [01:29] and kissing, and believe me, my memory [01:34] of it was that. Nothing was said. He didn't say by [01:38] the way. Or and I didn't go eek, or help, or whatever. It [01:42] was just this silent groping going on. And [01:47] I do remember at one point, out of my side eye [01:50] thinking that guy sitting across the isle, why doesn't he [01:53] come to my defense? The stewardess, somebody? But [01:57] then when his hands starting going up my skirt, I'm [02:02] not a small person. I managed to wiggle out and stand [02:06] up, grabbed my purse, and I went to the back of the [02:08] airplane. I stayed in the back of the airplane [02:12] until we landed and everybody was off because I did [02:15] not want to take the chance of running into him at all. [02:20] That was my story. Now, I didn't tell anybody then. I [02:23] didn't complain to the airlines, I didn't tell my boss. I [02:27] just thought, that's some creep on the airplane. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5058369/donald-trump-megyn-kelly-accusers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5058369/donald-trump-megyn-kelly-accusers/"},"headline":"'It Hurt.' 3 Women Who Accused Trump of Sexual Harassment Want Their Stories Heard Anew","datePublished":"2017-12-11T16:24:55.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T23:42:00.000Z","description":"Three women who accused Donald Trump of sexual harassment revisited their allegations a year later, this time amid the #MeToo movement.","url":"https://time.com/5058369/donald-trump-megyn-kelly-accusers/","keywords":["Donald Trump","politics","White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1aceff5cf1d9660/6988f497656a3f4e1abd2cba/gettyimages-888701696.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1aceff5cf1d9660/6988f497656a3f4e1abd2cba/gettyimages-888701696.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Donald Trump","caption":"President Donald Trump","creditText":"Jabin Botsford—The Washington Post","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5058369/donald-trump-megyn-kelly-accusers/","name":"'It Hurt.' 3 Women Who Accused Trump of Sexual Harassment Want Their Stories Heard Anew"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"3 Women Who Accused Trump of Sexual Harassment Share Their Stories on Megyn Kelly Today","description":"Samantha Holvey, who said last year that Donald Trump personally “inspected” her before the Miss USA pageant a decade earlier, said it was “heartbreaking” when the business mogul was elected President of the United States.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/dO566Fue/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-12-11T17:38:14.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dO566Fue.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5058369/donald-trump-megyn-kelly-accusers/","duration":"PT2M29S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5058369/donald-trump-megyn-kelly-accusers/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```