MSNBC Interviews Crying Woman Claiming She Was 'Afraid' of Trump's 'Thank You' Kiss
A former campaign staffer for President Donald Trump cried during an MSNBC interview because the president allegedly gave her a “thank you” kiss.
Alva Johnson worked for Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016, but she is now filing a lawsuit against the president for the alleged kiss.
According to the accusation outlined in the lawsuit, Trump attempted to give Johnson a kiss to thank her for organizing a successful campaign rally in Florida with then-Sen. Jeff Sessions on Aug. 24, 2016.
“He told her he knew she had been on the road for a long time and that she had been doing a great job,” the lawsuit states. “He also told Ms. Johnson that he would not forget about her, and that he was going to take care of her …
“Ms. Johnson suddenly realized that Defendant Trump was trying to kiss her on the mouth, and attempted to avoid this by turning her head to the right. Defendant Trump kissed her anyway, and the kiss landed on the corner of her mouth.”
It’s important to note that the meeting Johnson described took place in public view, outside a campaign rally where others were present.
And it’s just as important to note that witnesses contradict her story, according to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders.
Sanders called the accusation “absurd” in a statement to The Washington Post, adding that what Johnson is claiming “never happened and is directly contradicted by multiple highly credible eye witness accounts.”
But Johnson didn’t let Sanders’ statement stop her from making media appearances. She went on MSNBC Tuesday night to give her claims even more publicity.
While brushing away tears, Johnson told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes that Trump’s alleged kiss made her feel afraid.
About two months later, after news broke in October 2016 about a tape of Trump speaking about women in derogatory terms in 2005 to Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood,” Johnson said she decided she could no longer work on the Trump campaign.
“I never went back to work,” Johnson said. “I was afraid.”
“I never went back to work…I was afraid.”
Alva Johnson, ex-campaign aide who alleges Donald Trump kissed her without consent prior to Aug. 2016 campaign rally, describes her response to the “Access Hollywood” tape. pic.twitter.com/x35umeeqAT
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 27, 2019
Obviously, Johnson’s harassment claim shouldn’t be belittled, but maybe the establishment media shouldn’t immediately give her so much credence either.
As The Post article about her accusations noted, she didn’t break off all her connections to the Trump operation even after she quit. She even thought she might get a job working at the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon, Portugal.
“After the election, Johnson attended one of the inaugural balls,” The Post reported. “She also twice applied for jobs in the administration — the one in Portugal and another with the Energy Department. She said she felt she had earned those opportunities through her work on the campaign. Johnson said that, while she was disappointed, being passed over for those jobs had no bearing on her decision to sue.”
In May 2017, according to The Post, Johnson gave a radio interviewer a description of Trump that sounded like she was anything but “afraid” of him.
“He is more incredible in person than I think you would even think as you see him on TV,” Johnson told the radio show “Politics and Moore,” according to The Post.
And now she’s suing him.
But whatever happens with the legal case, it’s more than a little suspicious that an openly anti-Trump network like MSNBC would dedicate an entire 17-minute segment to someone crying about a “thank you” kiss (though Hayes did at least ask about that radio show quote).
First of all, such kisses are not unheard of in some circles. And the story might be more damning if the encounter had occurred in a private place where witnesses weren’t present, or if Trump had kissed her after she asked him not to, but that’s not what is being alleged.
This isn’t a case about sexual assault, groping, or other such despicable behavior. All of this attention is being given to an alleged “thank you” kiss — and eyewitnesses are saying it didn’t happen the way Johnson describes it.
The lawsuit cited then-Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as one of the alleged witnesses, but Bondi has categorically denied Johnson’s version of events.
“Do I recall seeing anything inappropriate? One hundred percent no,” Bondi told The Washington Post. “I’m a prosecutor, and if I saw something inappropriate, I would have said something.”
The establishment media must be running out of ways to attack Trump if this story was worthy of its own segment on MSNBC.
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