A Democracy Drive Thread
Decades on the record — the Access Hollywood tape, the E. Jean Carroll verdicts, demeaning insults, and an administration that follows suit.
This thread compiles, in chronological order and with sources, Trump’s long record of misogyny and sexual misconduct toward women — from on-tape boasts and demeaning insults to a civil jury’s finding that he sexually abused the writer E. Jean Carroll — alongside the administration’s parallel moves against women’s standing. It distinguishes carefully between what he has said, what courts have found, and what others have alleged.
January 1, 1994
In his own words
The clip resurfaced on “The Daily Show” in 2016.
“She’s got Marla’s legs. We don’t know whether or not she’s got this part yet, but time will tell.”
March 7, 2006
In his own words
It was one of several times he made sexualized remarks about his daughter in interviews.
“I’ve said if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.”
August 7, 2015
After Fox News’s Megyn Kelly pressed him at a debate about having called women “fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals,” Trump told CNN that she had questioned him so aggressively because “there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” The remark drew bipartisan condemnation.
“There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”
October 7, 2016
The Washington Post published a 2005 hot-mic recording from Access Hollywood in which Trump bragged that his fame let him grope women without consent. He dismissed it as “locker room talk” and apologized; Billy Bush, the other voice on the tape, later confirmed its authenticity.
“And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. … Grab ’em by the pussy.”
October 12, 2016
In recordings from Howard Stern’s show, Trump boasted that as the pageants’ owner he would go backstage while contestants were undressed — referring to the adult Miss USA and Miss Universe contests. Separately, several former Miss Teen USA contestants said Trump walked into their dressing room while they were changing, some when they were as young as 15.
“I’m allowed to go in, because I’m the owner of the pageant and therefore I’m inspecting it.”
October 19, 2016
In the final 2016 presidential debate, Trump leaned into his microphone to call Hillary Clinton “such a nasty woman” as she answered a policy question — one of a long line of gendered insults aimed at female opponents and critics.
“Such a nasty woman.”
May 9, 2023
A federal civil jury in New York found Trump liable for sexually abusing the writer E. Jean Carroll in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the 1990s, and for defaming her when he denied it, awarding her about $5 million.
January 26, 2024
In a separate trial over additional defamatory statements, a federal jury ordered Trump to pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million — the bulk of it punitive damages — for continuing to attack her after the first verdict.
August 28, 2024
Trump used his Truth Social account to repost an image of Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton captioned with a vulgar suggestion that both women had traded sexual favors for career advancement — a post even his own aides struggled to defend.
September 21, 2024
In his own words
He made the post on Truth Social.
February 17, 2025
On the ground
According to the Financial Times, U.S. officials raised the case in a call and Grenell raised it in Munich. Days later Romania lifted the travel ban and the brothers flew to Florida.
April 1, 2025
Back in office, the administration moved to take over Trump’s defense in the Carroll litigation — seeking to substitute the United States as defendant, which could wipe out the judgment since the government cannot be sued for defamation — and the DOJ opened an investigation into Carroll herself.
August 8, 2025
On the ground
In the segment, pastors in Wilson’s church network said women should not vote. Wilson has also defended claims of mutual affection between slaves and masters and said sodomy should be recriminalized. The Pentagon’s spokesman said Hegseth is a proud member of a church in Wilson’s network and “very much appreciates” his teachings; it later said he supports women’s right to vote.
September 8, 2025
In his own words
Speaking at the Museum of the Bible on Sept. 8, 2025, Trump said: “And much lesser things, things that take place in the home, they call crime. You know, they’ll do anything they can to find something. If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say, ‘This was a crime, see?’ So, now I can’t claim” as big a drop. The DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence said intimate-partner violence is a crime and “a precursor to domestic violence homicides.”
“If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say, ‘This was a crime, see?’”
November 10, 2025
After losing at the Second Circuit, Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the 2023 jury finding that he sexually abused and defamed Carroll, again floating swapping in the Justice Department as defendant to moot the case.
November 14, 2025
Aboard Air Force One, when Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey tried to follow up on the Epstein files, Trump pointed at her and said, “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.” The White House defended it as the president being “frank and open”; he disparaged other female reporters as “ugly” and “stupid” around the same time.
“Quiet. Quiet, piggy.”
November 18, 2025
In his own words
In the Oval Office on Nov. 18, 2025, Bruce asked about Khashoggi’s killing, Trump’s family business ties to the Saudis, and the Epstein files. Trump dismissed U.S. intelligence findings that the prince likely bore some responsibility for the 2018 murder, saying “a lot of people didn’t like” Khashoggi. He called her question “horrible, insubordinate,” then said: “I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake and it’s so wrong. And we have a great commissioner, the chairman, who should look at that.” Four days earlier, he had told Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey “quiet, piggy” when she asked about Epstein.
“I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake and it’s so wrong.”
January 29, 2026
In his own words
At the Jan. 29, 2026 White House event launching the Great American Recovery Initiative, which Kathryn Burgum co-chairs with RFK Jr. after 22 years of sobriety and years of advocacy, Trump said: “I saw them riding horses in a video and I said, ‘Who is that?’ I was talking about her, not him. They explained it, and I said, ‘I’m going to hire him’ because anybody that has somebody like you to be with — it’s an amazing tribute.”
“I saw them riding horses in a video and I said, ‘Who is that?’ I was talking about her, not him.”
February 3, 2026
In his own words
In the Oval Office on Feb. 3, 2026, Trump answered Collins’ question about Epstein’s victims by attacking her: “You are the worst reporter. CNN has no ratings because of people like you.” He went on: “You know she’s a young woman — I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile. I’ve known you for 10 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face. You know why you’re not smiling? Because you know you’re not telling the truth.” Vice President JD Vance defended the remarks.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile. … You know why you’re not smiling? Because you know you’re not telling the truth.”
February 22, 2026
In his own words
In a call to the men’s locker room after their win over Canada, placed through FBI Director Kash Patel, Trump joked that he would have to invite the women’s hockey team — who had also beaten Canada for gold — or “I do believe I probably would be impeached.” Players were filmed laughing; several later said they regretted it. Women’s captain Hilary Knight called it a “distasteful joke,” and the women’s team declined the invitation.