Donald Trump‘s latest accuser says he touched the inside of her right breast in 1998.
But let’s be clear: She won’t be challenging him legally — at least not at this time. But she wanted to get this off her chest. She said this is how she’s finding her “inner peace.”
With her husband by her side and famed attorney Gloria Allred, the accuser, Karena Virginia, a yoga instructor and life coach, appeared at the press conference Thursday morning at the London Hotel in Manhattan. She is the 10th woman to come forward with similar accusations.
According to Fox5 NY, Karena says Trump fondled her breast at the U.S. Open in Flushing, Queens. The precise details involve Virginia getting into a car service and Trump allegedly groping her breast. She said she had never met him. She was 27 years old.
The press conference began with Allred.
“Last night in the final presidential debate, Mr. Trump was asked to respond to the allegations of nine women,” she said. “He responded, nobody has more respect for women than I do. His response is ludicrous in light of the fact that nine women have come forward with allegations…and generally behaving in accordance with Mr. Trump’s own words which were captured on tape. … Today we are here with yet another woman who accuses Donald Trump of disrespecting her by engaging in inappropriate sexual behavior.”
Allred stands with these women. “We are proud of each and every one of them,” she said of Trump’s accusers who have spoken out.
She called Trump’s behavior the “height of arrogance” and “entitlement.” Speaking directly to Trump, she said, “There are consequences for the women that you have hurt, and there are consequences for you as well.”
Virginia said she was motivated to speak up after watching the Access Hollywood video in which Trump said he can do whatever he wants with women. He’s a star. So he can kiss them and “grab them by the pussy,” he told TV host Billy Bush, who was fired from NBC because of his part in the 10-year-old footage.
“I am here to stand up to Mr. Trump for myself, my family, particularly my daughter and for all the women who deserve to be respected and not subjected to sexual abuse or groped by powerful men who believe that women can be groped, grabbed or kissed at their pleasure,” she said. “I am also here to support the other women who had the courage to come forward only to be labeled as liars by Mr. Trump. No one has asked me to come forward. …In fact many people advised me not to speak publicly out of concern that I would be attacked by him.”
Karena, a married mother of two children, grew tearful as she spoke. She knows Trump will likely call her a “liar” or just “another nasty woman.”
She said he told other men with him, “Look at those legs. … Then his hand touched the inside of my right breast. I was in shock. I flinched.” She said he said, “Don’t you know who I am?”
She said she felt embarrassed and ashamed that she had worn a short dress and heels.
In Wednesday’s presidential debate Trump addressed his accusers, saying, “I don’t know those people.”
As Allred said, he also declared: “No one respects women more than me.”
The presidential hopeful has denied all accusations against him.
Trump said he never apologized to his wife, Melania, because he didn’t need to.
“I didn’t do anything,” he said.
Melania Trump, meanwhile, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper this week that Trump apologized to her and she believes him. She said she preferred to keep her conversation with her husband private.
The Trump campaign responded to Virginia’s allegation by attacking Allred and calling the story “fictional.”
“Discredited political operative Gloria Allred, in another coordinated, publicity seeking attack with the Clinton campaign, will stop at nothing to smear Mr. Trump,” said Jessica Ditto, the campaign’s deputy communications director. “Give me a break. Voters are tired of these circus-like antics and reject these fictional stories and the clear efforts to benefit Hillary Clinton.”