I’m a PEOPLE Writer Who Was Physically Attacked by Trump. Don’t Underestimate Women This Election

About seven weeks ago I was riding in an Uber in Bozeman, Montana, watching the fields and mountains go by, as my female driver happily chit chatted about the upcoming presidential election. More specifically, she was praising the virtues of Donald Trump and what a great guy he was.

Should I say something, I wondered?

After eight years of trying to convince Americans about the evils of Trump — starting with my 2016 PEOPLE essay then a multitude of follow-up articles and interviews — I was exhausted. What the hell more could I say? Forget it.

I was in Montana to interview an octuple-Oscar-nominated actress known for portraying powerful, gutsy females — including a movie role as the U.S. vice president — and still basking in the after-buzz from the DNC weeks earlier, where VP Kamala Harris kicked ass. And where an impassioned Michelle Obama stood up and urged the country to “Do something!”

But in the crimson state of Montana, I was certain nothing could be done. Nothing I could say would have any effect.

Until...

“I mean...those women who said Trump grabbed them,” the driver continued, now angry, as we stopped at a red light. “They were all lying! Maria Bartiromo on Fox said so.”

Effing Fox News, I swore under my breath. I wondered if this woman knew they owed $787.5 million for spreading false statements after the 2020 election.

I leaned forward in my seat. 

“Really?” I said, looking at her in the rearview mirror. “Well, one of those women is sitting in your back seat right now.”

She looked up, startled. Our eyes locked.

For the next 10 minutes I described my harrowing experience at Mar-a-Lago in 2005 when I went to interview Trump and his wife about their one-year wedding anniversary for PEOPLE. I told her how, after Melania went upstairs, he led me to a room, pushed me against a wall and, looming over me, forcibly kissed me. I told her how I pushed him away repeatedly, and about the ugly things he said to me.

And finally, I described how when I arrived at my pre-arranged massage appointment at the Mar-a-Lago spa the next morning, the “great guy” shocked the massage therapist by showing up, expecting to find me naked on a table, alone.

By the time we reached the parking lot of the local Super-8, I’d converted my diehard Trumpist chauffeur. She could see I was telling the truth, and more importantly, it had an impact on her.

“You convinced me,” she said, shaking my hand before driving away. “I’m not voting for him.” 

If miracles existed, I thought, I’d just witnessed one.

Why a miracle? Because for nearly a decade, it’s been almost impossible to change the belief and vote of a certain kind of voter — the type ensnared by the right-wing propaganda woven into the cult of Trump. The other women and I have struggled to do this with little success, and now with The Donald’s third fight for the Oval Office, we’d become gun-shy and battle weary.

When I say “the other women” I mean the near dozen I befriended from the almost 50 (including two new ones in recent days) who’ve gone public with their personal stories about Trump’s sexual misconduct toward them. We call our little support group “the sisterhood of the strange sorority.” We’re a unique community that none want to be a member of but that each of us are immensely grateful for.

Since Trump won his first presidential nomination in 2016, we’ve begged the country not to elect a serial predator to the White House. Last year, I testified in court for E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit against him and a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming her, ordering him to pay a total of $88.3 million in damages across two judgments.

Through it all, the women of the sorority have been harassed, received death threats, and been branded political operatives and liars by Trump and his supporters. (Just last week I received this love note from a bible-school graduate living in crucial, swing-state Pennsylvania: “Ur a complete lying piece of garbage.”)

We’re none of the above. The sorority includes this writer, a yoga teacher, a make-up artist, an actress, an event producer, a radio-show host, a university administrator and an abuse advocate. We’re mothers, wives, sisters and daughters trying to eke out a living, do our patriotic duty, and keep calm and carry on.

A few of us recently ventured out of battle-weary mode to make videos, warning the country of what a second Trump term would look like for women — a dystopian, Handmaid’s Tale nightmare.

Last week, we hosted an emotional “Survivors Against Trump” Zoom with other sexual assault survivors and advocates. The hour of sharing stories left us emotionally raw, but proud we had followed Michelle Obama’s inspiring DNC directive.

“This is our time to stand up for what we know in our hearts is right!” she said.

We’re trying. God knows, we’re still out here trying.

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Conservative women across the country are rebuking Trump — some, because they know me, but I have hope they're not the only ones.

The women of America — me, my new sister and tens of millions of other women I didn’t know — are making our voices heard, loud and clear, all the way to the White House.

And this is our message: After two-and-a-half centuries of men running this country, it’s time for the women to take charge.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.