Former President Barack Obama’s latest round of endorsements included Democrat Rachel Crooks who is running for the Ohio House of Representatives in District 88 as a Democrat.
Crooks burst onto the national political scene in 2016 when she accused Donald Trump of forcibly kissing her in an elevator when she was a young woman working at his namesake building in New York Trump Tower.
Trump denies that the encounter ever took place, but Crooks and other women who came forward with her have nonetheless gained notoriety for their claims.
Former President Barack Obama’s latest round of endorsements included Democrat Rachel Crooks who is running for the Ohio House of Representatives in District 88 as a Democrat.
Obama endorsed Crooks alongside a slate of other candidates. He did not single her out specifically or name the sitting president in the wave of midterm election endorsements.
In a tweet that included a graphic listing the names of the candidates he’s backing in their November elections he said: ‘Today, I’m proud to endorse even more Democratic candidates who aren’t just running against something, but for something—to expand opportunity for all of us and to restore dignity, honor, and compassion to public service. They deserve your vote.’
Crooks said in subsequent tweets, ‘This has been an incredible day! What makes @BarackObama’s endorsement so special is that his bid in 2008 was the 1st campaign I ever volunteered for. He won Sandusky County in ‘08 & ‘12, & then it went red in 2016.’
‘To be endorsed by @BarackObama 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,’ she tweeted from her ‘Rachel Crooks for Ohio’ account. ‘A million thanks to #PresidentObama for recognizing my campaign for #Ohio #HD88!’
Crooks burst onto the national political scene in 2016 when she accused Donald Trump of forcibly kissing her in an elevator when she was a young woman working at his namesake building in New York Trump Tower
In a formal statement, Crooks said through her campaign that Obama ‘is a man of integrity who served our country honorably for eight years, and now continues to inspire us with calls for hope and unity’ and that she proudly shares his ‘progressive values and his vision for a government that reflects the people it serves.’
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.
She says in the ad, which is also posted to her Twitter account, ‘At my first job out of college, I worked in Trump Tower, where I saw Mr. Trump, now our president. When I introduced myself, he shook my hand, and actually kissed me on the cheeks a few times.
‘But then the held onto my hand and pulled me in and kissed me on the lips. Quite frankly that was a rude awakening to adulthood,’ she states.
Crooks was 22 and had just moved to New York from her hometown of Green Springs, Ohio, at the time.
‘It of course didn’t define me but it certainly impacted my life and now speaking out about it after I learned of so many other women who had the same encounter really made me feel and understand how important it is to speak up.’
Trump denies the allegations from Crooks and others: ‘I’ve been accused. I’ve been accused. False accusations,’ he said at a press conference in New York
Crooks alleges that the encounter took place when she was working as a receptionist in Trump Tower in 2005. The Republican president has been accused by women of engaging in affairs and inappropriate conduct with other women, including Stormy Daniels, around the same time.
He married his third wife Melania Trump in January of that year.
President Trump has denied the allegations and said last week that the charges from Crooks and other women affected his support for Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who he has continued backing amid a string of sex assault charges.
‘I’ve been accused. I’ve been accused. False accusations,’ he said at a press conference in New York.
Crooks is campaigning to unseat Republican Representative Bill Reineke in an area that President Trump won in 2016. Reineke ran unopposed that year. He won the seat in 2014 with 59 percent of the vote to his Democratic opponent’s 41 percent.
Only once has the seat been held by a Democrat, from a period of 12 years from the beginning of 1983 to the end of 1994. The seat’s incumbent Democrat was defeated in his reelection bid.