A former Trump campaign staffer claims the billionaire mogul kissed her on the lips without her consent before a Florida rally in August 2016.
Alva Johnson filed a lawsuit alleging Mr. Trump grabbed her hand, leaned in and kissed her on the lips as he exited an RV outside the rally in Tampa on Aug. 24, 2016.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Johnson said she quickly turned her head and the unwanted kiss landed on the side of her mouth. She called Trump’s alleged behavior “super-creepy and inappropriate.”
“I immediately felt violated because I wasn’t expecting it or wanting it,” she told The Post. “I can still see his lips coming straight for my face.”
She is seeking monetary damages for the “anguish” Trump’s alleged kiss caused her.
There are no witnesses to the alleged inappropriate contact, but Johnson said she text her account of what happened to her boyfriend, mother and stepfather later that day. All three confirmed to The Post that they received her text messages.
Johnson, who is Black, consulted with a Florida attorney, and he shared the text messages with The Post. The lawyer said Johnson’s text messages show her story is “credible,” but he declined to take the case for business reasons.
Johnson was allegedly so distraught that the lawyer referred her to a therapist, whose notes, he shared with The Post.
In a statement to The Post, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders dismissed Johnson’s allegation as “absurd on its face.”
“This never happened and is directly contradicted by multiple highly credible eye witness accounts,” Sanders wrote. Former campaign staffers note that Trump was never alone on the campaign trail, except when he went to use the restroom.
Two Trump supporters that Johnson identified as witnesses – a campaign official and Pam Bondi, then the Florida attorney general – denied seeing the alleged kiss in interviews with The Post.
More than a dozen women claimed Trump acted inappropriately with them over decades. Johnson is the only accuser to come forward since Trump took office, according to The Post.
Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images
