E. Jean Caroll’s book recounting how Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s was released Tuesday, with the media still unsure how to handle such an allegation against Trump, despite previous sexual assault allegations against him by well over a dozen different women. Carroll, a longtime advice columnist for Elle, includes Trump on a list of “most hideous men of my life” in the book What Do We Need Men For?: A Modest Proposal. An excerpt detailing the attack was released in New York magazine in June.
Carroll’s description of the attack meets the definition of rape—she writes that 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”—though she has said that she prefers to describe it as a “fight.” Two friends who she told about the assault at the time have corroborated her current account.
New York Times editor Dean Baquet has admitted that the newspaper was “overly cautious” in its coverage of Carroll’s allegations, and other media organizations, too, have failed to treat the story with the seriousness it deserves, particularly given the vast number of groping and forced-kissing allegations already outstanding against Trump, in addition to his own “grab ‘em by the pussy” words.