Former President Obama has endorsed Rachel Crooks, who has accused Donald Trump of kissing her without consent, for a state house seat.
Crooks, 35, burst onto the national political scene in 2016 when she accused Trump of forcibly kissing her in an elevator when she was a 22-year-old receptionist at a real estate investment company in Trump Tower.
She told her story to the New York Times during the 2016 campaign and has told it multiple times since. “You feel like you have to say yes; you don’t want to be the nasty girl, the mean girl who doesn’t comply and who picks a fight,” Crooks told NBC’s Megyn Kelly.
Trump denies that the encounter ever took place.
Obama endorsed Crooks alongside a slate of other Democratic candidates.
Ohio’s 88th District is in north-central Ohio and includes Sandusky and much of Seneca counties. It has traditionally been largely represented by Republicans
Crooks said in a tweet, “To be endorsed by Barack Obama is indescribable. He is a man of integrity who served our country honorably for 8 years & continues to inspire us with calls for hope & unity.”
Crooks’ charge against the president is at the core of her campaign. She’s running a 2-minute ad in Ohio that centers on the allegation and how it inspired her to seek office.