A man arrested for groping a woman as she slept on a plane told officers that “the president of the United States says it’s OK”, a court has heard.
According to court documents, the woman says she fell asleep shortly after take-off when she felt the defendant touch her “near her bra-line”, the Albuquerque Journal reports.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
At the time, she believed the contact could have been accidental. However, around half an hour later, “she was grabbed and groped again, this time ‘attentively’”.
The unidentified woman says she confronted Alexander and then asked a crew member to move her to another seat.
At the request of the crew, law enforcement agents were waiting at Albuquerque International Sunport when the flight touched down.
After being placed in handcuffs, Alexander is alleged to have “invoked President Trump’s infamous Access Hollywood comments”, says The Daily Beast, telling officers: “The president of the United States says it's OK to grab women by their private parts.”
However, in a later, written statement, Alexander denied the allegations and claimed he had slept through the flight. He remains in custody.
In the Access Hollywood tape recording from 2005, leaked in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, Trump can be heard bragging about groping women without their consent.
“And when you're a star, they let you do it,” he said. “You can do anything. Grab ‘em by the pussy.”
-
Has ‘poppy politics’ got out of hand?Talking Point ‘Toxic’ debate over red and white poppies is another front in the culture wars
-
Vladimir Putin’s ‘nuclear tsunami’ missileIn The Spotlight Russian president has boasted that there is no way to intercept the new weapon
-
Sudoku hard: November 11, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
Trump’s trade war: has China won?Talking Point US president wanted to punish Beijing, but the Asian superpower now holds the whip hand
-
‘This is where adaptation enters’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump ordered to fully fund SNAPSpeed Read The Justice Department is appealing the decision
-
Trump tariffs face stiff scrutiny at Supreme CourtSpeed Read Even some of the Court’s conservative justices appeared skeptical
-
The longest US government shutdown in historyThe Explainer Federal employees and low-income households have been particularly affected by ‘partisan standoffs’ in Washington
-
Democrats seek 2026 inspiration from special election routsIN THE SPOTLIGHT High-profile wins are helping a party demoralized by Trump’s reelection regain momentum
-
‘Not all news is bad’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
A most profitable presidencyfeature Donald Trump has added $3 billion to his wealth since returning to the White House. How?
