October 14, 2016; Washington, D.C. - NPR's Audie Cornish spoke to Jessica Leeds, the woman who alleges that Donald Trump groped her when she was seated next to him on an airplane over 30 years ago.
The following interview will air this afternoon on All Things Considered at approximately 5:06 p.m. ET. Stations and broadcast times are available atwww.npr.org/stations.
Excerpts from the conversation are available below.
When asked what she was thinking during the incident, she said:
"I didn't say anything. I don't recall saying no. I don't recall staying stop. I don't recall saying anything. I just – and he – I certainly recall that he didn't say anything. It was like a silent pantomime. Um...I remember at one point looking over at the guy, in the – on the seat across the aisle, and his eyes were like bugging out of his head. And the stewardess was nowhere to be found."
When asked if she felt she could tell anyone what happened at the time, she said:
"It never occurred to me to tell anyone, it never occurred to me to complain to airlines, it never occurred to me to complain to my boss, it was – to be frank not that uncommon in my travels as a salesperson on the road.
When asked about her reaction to the incident, she said:
"You know, as, I'm a fairly tall woman. I felt that for the most part I could handle myself physically, I could take care of myself physically, but he was very strong and very...very difficult. So yes it really rattled me. It rattled me enough so that I waited until everyone was off the airlines before I left. I did not want to run into him at all. I didn't want to take the chance of running into him at all."
Audio and transcript will be available on NPR.org later today. An advanced transcript of the story is available upon request, embargoed until 5:06 PM.
Contact
NPR Media Relations
mediarelations@npr.org / 202.513.2300
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.