2016 U.S. Presidential Race Megathread Mark 2.

In 2012, Monnin was completely blindsided by the lawsuit. “There was no way I could have afforded to pay that off and frankly, he had to have known that,” she said of Trump’s $10m suit. “I was just a normal person.” At 27, she had no legal experience or connections, and had never seen anything approaching that kind of money. She was still paying off her degree from the online university she attended, and making strides to grow a small business.

Unlike Trump, she did not come from privilege. Her family had to move every few years for her father’s business, work which took them to Florida, Texas, New York, Kentucky and the Carolinas before she was grown. Sometimes her parents would take in foster kids in the cities where they lived, but they never stayed anywhere long.

The three years she spent battling Trump and his lawyers she recalls as the most traumatic period of her life. Family helped keep her feeling grounded and protected, she said, but there were still mornings when she didn’t want to get out of bed. “My focus was getting through each day and getting through what was going on around me and understanding my options,” she said of that period. “Every day seemed to bring a new legal document that I didn’t understand, that I had to seek legal counsel on.”

As recently as last year, Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen bragged to the Daily Beast about the time he “destroy[ed]” Monnin’s life. Attempting to intimidate a Beast reporter, Cohen said: “Do you want to destroy your life? It’s going to be my privilege to serve it to you on a silver platter like I did that idiot from Pennsylvania in Miss USA.” Monnin rebuffs the notion her life was destroyed, but concedes Trump succeeded in the short term and not just with regard to making her feel small and afraid. “There was this message being sent out to all the contestants: you better not say anything bad about us. And that’s how the other young ladies felt.” It may have worked: not one of the women whom Monnin said sent supportive messages after Trump attacked her came forward to defend her in public, though one did anonymously defend her story to Fox News.

It’s no secret that Trump is incredibly litigious. A recent investigation by USA Today tallied 3,500 lawsuits involving Trump. He gets sued quite a bit, but mostly he does the suing, filing 1,900 suits, including many – like the one against Monnin – for defamation. He has sued biographers, journalists, business partners, even an ex-wife and a Native American tribe, but he has threatened to sue even more.

frostyjacks wrote: »

Two adults dating is dirty now?

frostyjacks wrote: »

Nor has Trump been convicted of anything. Who was fantasising about dating children?

It's a little cringey, but I'd rather have a reputation as a bit of a lech than a genuine sexual predator. Hillary may as well bring Larry Murphy into the Whitehouse.