WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will meet for a final debate on Oct. 19 in Las Vegas, and after their last nasty encounter the question Americans are asking themselves is: How low will it go?
Although Trump faced allegations of sexual harassment before he took the stage in St. Louis on Oct. 9, at that point only the “Access Hollywood” tape where he made lewd comments about women had come out.
Since then a half-dozen allegations have been made against him by women. Most notably, The New York Times talked to two women who alleged Trump had made aggressive sexual overtures toward them, one of which occurred on an airplane only a few minutes after the woman had met Trump. That encounter was said to have taken place 37 years ago, but in one sense that added to the creepiness factor — because of the sheer length of time he has apparently been behaving this way. A former writer for People magazine wrote about interviewing Trump and his wife in Florida in 2005, and asserted that when Melania was out of sight, Trump pushed her against a wall and kissed her against her will. In 2010, according to CNN anchor Erin Burnett, a friend reported that Trump kissed her without consent. Burnett said her friend was invited into Trump’s office, where the incident occurred.
Trump has responded by lashing out at his accusers, calling them liars, threatening to sue The New York Times and claiming that the media was fabricating the stories in an effort to manipulate the election. Trump and his allies also say that the media has barely reported on recent revelations about Clinton and her staff contained in the most recent batch of hacked emails posted on WikiLeaks.
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