Temple Taggart

• Temple Taggart was a former pageant contestant who came forward to describe an experience being forcibly kissed by Donald Trump. “In the days since Mr. Trump's campaign was jolted by a 2005 recording that caught him bragging about pushing himself on women, he has insisted, as have his aides, that it was simply macho bluster. ‘It's just words,’ he has said repeatedly. And his hope for salvaging his candidacy rests heavily on whether voters believe that claim. They should not, say Ms. Leeds and Ms. Crooks, whose stories have never been made public before. And their accounts echo those of other women who have previously come forward, like Temple Taggart, a former Miss Utah, who said that Mr. Trump kissed her on the mouth more than once when she was a 21-year-old pageant contestant. […] Mr. Trump's description of how he kisses beautiful women without invitation described precisely what he did to her, she said. ‘I just start kissing them,’ Mr. Trump said on the tape. ‘It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait.’” (New York Times, October 13, 2016)
• Taggart recounted that Trump had forcibly kissed her in front of a pageant official during an event held in 1997. “Temple Taggart McDowell told NBC News that she met Trump in 1997, when she was 21 and participating in the Miss USA beauty pageant as Miss Utah. Trump owned the pageant at the time. She said Trump kissed her on the lips without permission when she met him at a rehearsal for the event. She said he kissed her again when she met with him at Trump Tower to discuss modeling contracts. McDowell said the kiss discomfited a pageant official who was also present. ‘I don't even know who she is,’ Trump told NBC News in response. ‘She claims this took place in a public area. I never kissed her. I emphatically deny this ridiculous claim.’” (Washington Post, October 18, 2016)