A ninth woman has alleged that Democratic San Diego Mayor Bob Filner sexually harassed her.
Emily Gilbert, who looks like Marilyn Monroe, was hired to sing at a fundraiser in December shortly after Filner took office. The Monroe look-alike told San Diego’s Fox5 Thursday that the mayor touched her inappropriately.
“He grabbed me a little too tight, then proceeded to slide his hand down my arm and then did a little grab on my derriere,” Fox5 quoted Gilbert. “I didn’t want to make a scene — there were kids around.”
Emily Gilbert at the event with the mayor.
According to the local station, Gilbert tried to laugh the incident off by was embarrassed and was worried about backlash from making harassment allegations.
“Now that there’s other girls, he’s doing this to other people, I think probably he should really take a took at himself,” she told the station.
Gilbert’s husband, Jason Gilbert, a former Marine major, told Fox5 he was furious about the incident.
What was I going to do, he’s the mayor,” Fox5 quoted Jason Gilbert. “We don’t want any money, but we think the mayor should make a donation to a woman’s cause… actions speak louder than words. He needs to resign.”
Filner has refused to step down, instead opting for two weeks of therapy.
Republicans Friday slammed Democrats for failing to vocally condemn Filner, and New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner — who recently was found to have continued to engage in sexing even after resigning from Congress in 2011 for similar activities.
“Democrats want voters to think they’ll do anything to defend women. But when women in San Diego were allegedly harassed, marginalized and exploited by a Democrat mayor, most Democrats said nothing,” read a Republican National Committee coalition letter.
“Could it be that Democrats only pretend to care about women when it’s politically advantageous?” the letter added.