Rachel Crooks says Donald Trump kissed her forcibly. Photo / Getty Images
Rachel Crooks says Donald Trump kissed her forcibly. Photo / Getty Images
A woman who claims that Donald Trump forcibly kissed her before he became US President says she feels "forgotten" as allegations of sexual harassment engulf Hollywood and Washington.
Rachel Crooks is one of at least 15 women who have accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct over the decades. The President has dismissed the claims as false and a politically motivated smear campaign.
Crooks says the flood of allegations against men such as Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has been "great", but she is frustrated that claims against Trump have refused to stick.
President Donald Trump has denied allegations of sexual misconduct. Photo / AP
"I'm so thankful that other women are having the courage to come forward but, yes, I do feel forgotten," she told CNN.
"You can't help but wonder why people aren't talking about Trump and the people that came forward for him and why is he immune to this."
Crooks was working as a receptionist for a company in Trump Tower in 2005 aged 22 and she would see the businessman "almost daily" as he took the lift to his residence.
"I knew he was a partner of ours so I wanted to introduce myself. I shook his hand and he gave me a kiss on each cheek, which was normal, but he held onto my hand and he continued to kiss my cheeks over and over again as he inserted small talk," she told CNN.
"He asked me where I was from, if I was a model; he told me he had his own modelling agency, but he kept repeatedly kissing me and then, finally, he kissed me on the lips.
"His elevator arrived and that ended the encounter.
"After that, I ran back into the office and called my sister. I was really upset."
Crooks has told her story to the New York Times before, which Mr Trump denied at the time.
Former Alabama chief justice Roy Moore is heading into a senate election next week under a cloud of sexual misconduct allegations. Photo / AP
A stream of other women have accused Trump of unwanted kissing and groping. One of the claims, from former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos, is before the courts.
Crooks' new interview comes as Trump throws his support behind a senate candidate accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
Six women say Alabama judge Roy Moore pursued romantic relationships with them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. Two others accused him of assault or molestation. Moore has denied all of the claims.
Despite the controversy, Trump has thrown his support behind Moore, saying the senate needs someone who will support the Republican agenda.
Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama. We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, Border Wall, Military, Pro Life, V.A., Judges 2nd Amendment and more. No to Jones, a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet!
Putting Pelosi/Schumer Liberal Puppet Jones into office in Alabama would hurt our great Republican Agenda of low on taxes, tough on crime, strong on military and borders...& so much more. Look at your 401-k’s since Election. Highest Stock Market EVER! Jobs are roaring back!
The infamous Access Hollywood tape, where Trump bragged that women let him "grab 'em by the pussy", is also back in the news after reports circulated that the President was denying in private that the voice on the video was his.
The man who interviewed him on the tape, Billy Bush, has written a stinging opinion piece vouching for the veracity of the recording.
"He said it. 'Grab 'em by the pussy'. Of course he said it," Bush wrote in the New York Times.
"And we laughed along, without a single doubt that this was hypothetical hot air from America's highest-rated bloviater.
Billy Bush has said in an opinion piece that it was indeed Donald Trump's voice on the 2005 Access Hollywood tape. Photo / AP
"Every single one of us assumed we were listening to a crass stand-up act. He was performing. Surely, we thought, none of this was real."
Bush, who lost his job at the US Today show over the tape, said Trump was "indulging in some revisionist history".
