More than half of Americans say Donald Trump should resign over sexual harassment claims

Findings come in a week when three of his alleged victims called a congressional inquiry into his behaviour

Jeff Farrell
Friday 15 December 2017 12:35 GMT
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Donald Trump sexual harassment accuser: 'Let's play for round two'

More than a half of Americans say that Donald Trump should resign from the White House over the almost two dozen counts of sexual harassment claims levelled against him, a new poll has found.

A total of 53 per cent said he should step down compared to just 42 per cent who said he should stay in office despite the sleaze claims made against him.

The Public Policy Polling survey also found that the same number who said he should quit (53 per cent) believed the allegations made against him, while nearly a third (31pc) think his accusers are not telling the truth.

Almost a quarter (22 per cent) of those who identified themselves as Trump supporters said they would approve of the US president sexually harassing women. Nearly a half (45 per cent) did not.

The results came at the end of a week when three women who have accused the US leader of sexual misconduct demanded a congressional inquiry.

Jessica Leeds, Samantha Holvey, and Rachel Crooks accused Mr Trump of groping, fondling, forcibly kissing, humiliating or harassing them.

A former beauty queen, Ms Holvey claimed the 71-year-old ogled her and other Miss USA pageant contestants in their dressing room in 2006. She said his election win had been "heartbreaking".

Ms Leeds alleged that Mr Trump tried to kiss and put his hand up her skirt during a flight in the 1970s, while Rachel Crooks, a former Trump Tower receptionist said the billionaire kissed her on the mouth without consent in 2006

All three called for Congress to “put aside party affiliations and investigate Trump's history of sexual misconduct”.

As is often the case, Mr Trump took to Twitter to dismiss the claims.

“Despite thousands of hours wasted and many millions of dollars spent, the Democrats have been unable to show any collusion with Russia - so now they are moving on to the false accusations and fabricated stories of women who I don’t know and/or have never met. FAKE NEWS!”

A Capitol Hill investigation into Mr Trump's conduct appears unlikely.

The Senate and House Ethics Committees investigate members of Congress, rather than presidents.

The Republican-led committees would also be loath to investigate their own leader on sexual misconduct.

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