News

This New Allegation About Trump Is Disturbing

by Chris Tognotti

In the latest post-election news, Washington Post writer Richard Cohen alleged that Donald Trump said he was attracted to his daughter Ivanka when she was 13 years old. The comment was subsequently pulled from Cohen's piece before it was published on Tuesday, Nov. 22. The Trump campaign has not responded to requests for comment.

According to BuzzFeed's Tamerra Griffin, who reported the allegation, an initial draft of Cohen's column sent around for publication (his work is syndicated out to multiple outlets) contained a line that was later stripped in a draft sent prior to Tuesday morning, when it was slated to go live.

Here's the passage Cohen apparently wrote. For some reason, he later removed the Ivanka allegation contained between the dashes. Be forewarned that this is an allegation of a sexually explicit comment made about a 13-year-old child — by her father, no less — and as such, may be highly upsetting.

Jared Kushner, our Tom Hagen, who married Trump’s stunning daughter Ivanka — “Can I ask you something?” Trump asked someone I know, about his then-13-year-old kid, “Is it wrong to be more sexually attracted to your own daughter than your wife?” — has lately lost some of this Boy Scout aura. It turns out Kushner’s admission to Harvard was preceded by his father’s $2.5 million pledge.

According to Griffin, Washington Post editor Fred Hiatt offered a comment on the story just after its release, saying he didn't think it fair to his writers to comment on the editing process, and that he "[doesn't] see what is to be gained by talking about things that are not published — there are countless drafts that never see the light of day."

While it's unclear whether Cohen's anecdote is true or not ― and if there was some reason to doubt, that that's one possible explanation it was pulled ― there are nonetheless a number of creepy, sexually charged remarks Trump has made toward his eldest daughter freely, in public settings. During a 2003 appearance on Howard Stern's radio show, the real estate mogul described Ivanka as having "the best body." In 2006, in another appearance, Trump gave Stern permission to call her "a piece of ass," and commented on how "she's actually always been very voluptuous."

Then, on a 2006 episode of The View on which they both appeared, Trump commented that if Ivanka "has a very nice figure," and that if she weren't his daughter, he might be dating her.

A full seven years later, Trump was still inclined to veer into sexual territory when discussing Ivanka, even with her seated right next to him. When TV host Wendy Williams asked for something he had in common with her, he replied, "Well, I was going to say sex, but I can't relate that to her."

His behavior also came under scrutiny after his speech accepting the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention. Ivanka was his lead-in, and after she was done speaking, he briefly greeted and patted her hips before heading to the podium to speak, in a manner that set off a firestorm of criticism on social media.

There's also one other indisputable instance of Trump making a sexually inappropriate remark about an underage girl. In a video provided to CBS News, he says of a young girl riding an escalator, "I'm gonna be dating her in ten years, can you believe that?"

Bustle has still not yet received comment from the Trump team about Cohen's allegation, and according to BuzzFeed News, their multiple requests for comment have also yielded no response.