Poll: Has Trump ever sexually assaulted a child?

[Alcon]

Daddy, where are you TAKING ME?

Jesus.

Look, guys, I think Trump is a predatory personality, and some awful behaviors would be consistent with that fact.  But that doesn't mean it's reasonable to presume he certainly did every awful behavior that's consistent with that fact, especially if those awful behaviors are unthinkably awful...and especially if it involves public embarrassment of the supposed (but potentially non-)victim.  Trump is a bad person, but that doesn't make him OK to accuse him of every related bad thing, especially if it does harm to his kids.

It's certainly not OK to present a photo of this as "proof," and frankly, Edu, it would be easy to interpret your tone as amusement...which would definitely be messed up.

[Alcon]

Given all the evidence of a). Trump's creepy, sexual behavior towards children and b). all the accusations of him assaulting adult women I think it would be utterly criminal to not be questioning whether he molested children. Yes, it's unthinkably awful, but don't we owe it to his potential victims to be checking out this smoke and seeing if there's fire?

I see nothing wrong with this thread.

What's the point of raising an issue when it's not done in a way that actually allows for investigating the issue?  Unfalsifiable accusations are pretty awful, even when they're done to people I think are also bad people.  And consider his chilren.  Imagine how awful it would be, if this didn't happen, to see people posting photos of you and your dad online, alleging he sexually molested you, with mocking captions like Edu's.  How violating and terrible would that be, dude?

It's not OK.

[Alcon]

I'm not defending Edu's posts, which I agree were a little glib. Actually, my own initial post in this thread was a little glib, and I apologize for it. It's not a subject that should be treated lightly.

However, I absolutely believe this should be investigated further and I'm glad people are raising it. Hopefully someone in a position to do a real investigation gets wind of this and starts poking around. Yes, it would be awful for the kids if it wasn't true -- but how much more awful would it be if it WAS true and people didn't investigate because they didn't want to "embarrass the family?" THAT would be much worse.

This won't be investigated unless there's any form of direct evidence.  That's how the legal system works, and that's a good thing.  There's currently no such evidence, and baseless internet speculation won't generate that evidence.  This does none of the good that "asking questions" does, and all of the harm.

Even if the Trump children were abuse victims, even if they are privately hoping this issue will be investigated and adjudicated, do you think crap like this thread is either an effective or humane way of doing so?

Let's not rationalize this.  It's totally unacceptable.

[Alcon]

I wasn't meaning to specifically pick on you, Edu.  I know you're a high-quality poster and not malicious, so I'm all for giving you the benefit of the doubt on this.  I just think this thread is toxic.