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?

…

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.”

Added featured image – Kelly