Alva Johnson, a former staffer who worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign, is suing the president for attempting to kiss her without her consent
Johnson said she denied Donald Trump’s attempts to kiss her outside of a rally in Tampa, Florida in August 2016 and is now suing the president, alleging that he attempted to kiss her without consent.
“I immediately felt violated because I wasn’t expecting it or wanting it,” she told the Washington Post. “I can still see his lips coming straight for my face.” She also called the interaction “super-creepy” and “inappropriate”.
In a statement, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said: “This never happened and is directly contradicted by multiple highly credible eye witness accounts,” adding that the allegations were “absurd on its face.”
Johnson filed the lawsuit in Florida on Monday, which also alleges that the campaign discriminated against Johnson by paying her less than her white male colleagues. She is seeking as yet unspecified damages for emotional pain and suffering.
The lawsuit is just the latest in a series of sexual assault allegations against Trump but the first to assert that the president was guilty of sexual misconduct whilst actively on the campaign trail.
An attorney Johnson met with in Florida told the Washington Post he had found her story to be “credible” and referred her to a therapist. He claims he did not, however, take her case for “business reasons”.
The White House has denied the allegations.
