We all know what Trump said on the debate stage a couple of days ago in response to an Anderson Cooper question of him, "No, I did not do that". This was directly in response to whether Trump groped or kissed women without consent or invitation. He also said it was "locker room talk", [but those of us that have spent years in locker rooms as former athletes know discussions of sexual assault never took place].
As to be expected, women have now come forward to refute Trump's denial. Not unsurprisingly, Trump's reply has been to tweet out that what the N.Y. Times, the Palm Beach Post and People Magazine have all reported are total fabrications and those female accusers are just liars; they cannot be believed. He has also questioned why they are only coming forward now when the supposed events occurred years ago. His base will no doubt lap up his queries and assertions like bees to honey. But is this what the American electorate wants to hear about concerning one of their presidential candidates? While sex "sells", aren't the issues of our time more important for our two presidential candidates to address? Again, however, sex sells.
More to the point of this post, Trump's position boils down to a threefold analysis. First, he tells us the women that have already come forth (and there will be more, no doubt) are not to be believed; after all, they are recounting events that occurred decades ago, so how can they be in any way accurate? Putting the shoe on the other foot, how can the women that Trump paraded out at the last debate be believed either; to reiterate, they are witness to events said to have taken place decades ago. What's the phrase, "what is good for the goose is good for the gander"? Consonant with Trump's defense, would any woman not remember with specificity an unwanted touching by someone like a Trump---someone that described himself as a "star" (revisit the Access Hollywood tape)? Would any woman not remember Trump putting his hand up her skirt, forcing his tongue inside her mouth, or using his hands as if a GPS all over a woman's body? Hardly.
Second, Trump tells us these women are all liars? Well, first of all, Trump has gone on record either through the Access Hollywood tape or in other previous statements he has made of his sexual predilections, notably on Howard Stern radio talk shows. So there is a motive (desire?). What would then follow is acting on his talk to the likes of Stern, Billy Bush and surely others if the opportunity of his naughty behavior presented itself. And why wouldn't such a memory of events be burned into the memory of such women? For the same reason that adult males recall events occurring to them as young boys decades ago at the hands of Catholic priests shown in later life to have been adjudged to be pedophiles.
Then there is Bill Cosby, who, like Trump, has vociferously denied wrongdoing by scores of women that have told their stories stemming from their interaction with Cosby, again, decades ago.
And what was the foundation behind the downfall, and subsequent prison sentence, of former Republican House Majority Leader, Dennis Hastert (R-Il.)? It came from his molesting one or more high schoolers, once more, decades ago, during his days as a high school wrestling coach. Such a horrific event becomes a seared memory to remember with exceeding accuracy for life.
Third, Trump tells us that the timing of the women now coming forward is basically nothing but the Clinton campaign doing its dirty political deed. Certainly, Trump's supporters will not be convinced otherwise. Yet, they would be doing so at their peril (not that they care), because women coming forward now do so because Trump within only the last couple of days asserted that he never sexually assaulted females. Trump had never directly answered until now the question put to him by Anderson Cooper, so logic and human nature tells us that affected women coming forward less than 28 days before the election is appropriate and expected. If anything, Trump is to blame for this latest bru-ha-ha due to his denial to Cooper.
So, what do the current events tell the voter about Trump, the candidate? Again, to his supporters, they do not care. Trump is the change (in government) agent for them, so it does not matter what he has done to women in the past. Mike Pence, his running mate, tells us---as have others---that those of faith accept apologies for errant ways; Trump has done that, Pence further tells us, even if we realize Trump undertook his misdeeds at age 59, Trump's age at the time of the Access Hollywood tape.
So where does this leave the American voter on Trump the presidential candidate? Look no further than the public's reaction and response to the actions of the pedophiles within the Catholic Church, assertions made against Bill Cosby, and even to the catalyst leading up to Dennis Hastert's demise, and you'll surely know the answer.