Stacey Williams is supporting Kamala Harris after sexual misconduct allegations against Donald Trump

Stacey Williams showed up on the doorstep of one Bucks County Home Saturday morning, knocking on what would be the 21st door of her search.

For much of the morning, Williams, 56, was confronted with unanswered doors, voicemails from the Ring camera or a man angrily saying he had already voted.

But when Margaret, a Lower Makefield resident who gave only her first name, opened the door, Williams had a much more personal connection and a moment to share why she was out on this cold fall morning:

Williams, a former Sports Illustrated model now living in California, said she was sexually assaulted by former President Donald Trump in 1993, as convicted sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein looked on.

Margaret’s face fell and she embraced Williams in a hug.

“I feel for you, I’m sorry,” said Margaret, who added that she couldn’t wait to vote on Tuesday.

Williams, who grew up in Wilkes-Barre and Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, has been politically involved for 17 years and is spending the home stretch of the 2024 campaign in one of the most crucial counties in her home state, where she is mobilizing Democrats to cast their vote for vice president Kamala Harris as she shares her story and connects with suburban women in the Purple Province along the way.

Saturday’s canvassing event, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, marked the first time Williams has knocked on doors since she first shared her story. during a “Survivors for Kamala” Zoom call on Oct. 21. That call was not related to the Harris campaign and Williams says her decision was not made in coordination with the Democratic Party.

Trump’s campaign has strongly denied Williams’ sexual abuse allegations. “These allegations, made by a former Barack Obama activist and announced during a Harris campaign call two weeks before the election, are unequivocally false,” Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s press secretary, said in a statement. “It is clear that this bogus story was fabricated by the Harris campaign.”

Williams is one of about 27 women who allege Trump committed sexual misconduct. The GOP nominee has never been criminally charged with such behavior, but a jury in a civil case in May 2023 held him liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll.

Women in the collar counties of Philadelphia are poised to help determine the outcome of the 2024 election after playing a crucial role in getting Pennsylvania president Joe Biden in 2020. On Tuesday, they could potentially make Harris the first female president of the United States.

Ben Romero, organizer for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, said Saturday, “Bucks County is one of the most important places you can be today.”

The neighborhoods Williams visited were filled with crisp fall leaves, the remnants of Halloween decorations, and a palpable bond between her and the women she encountered.

“You know what’s going to happen if he gets elected,” Williams said of Trump to a woman who had already voted.

“I know,” she replied.

“God Almighty,” another woman, a Harris voter, responded when Williams shared her story.

Williams appreciated the more personal atmosphere on Saturday, after the global media attention her story received. She didn’t feel ready to deal with the backlash in 2016 or 2020, she said, explaining why she hadn’t come forward with the allegations against Trump until now.

“You’d throw up if you saw some of the things people said to me online,” Williams said as he sat in the backyard of a family of Yardley Democrats who volunteered their home as a headquarters for Saturday’s canvassing.

“But this is much more intimate,” Williams added. “Those women I spoke to were so warm and loving, as if I knew they were going to get a hug. You just notice, you know, and women feel very connected in this country right now because of what’s happening.

Helen Rosenthal, president of the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, attended the campaign event Saturday and said Williams sharing her experiences likely resonates with the one-third of women in the United States who have been assaulted in some way , harassed or targeted.

“If that helps portray him in a truthful way that gets him support to vote for Kamala, then I’m very happy to do that,” Williams said about coming forward with her accusations against Trump. “I think women have had enough.”

Returning to her old stomping grounds in Pennsylvania, Williams reminisced about her favorite pizza in Northeastern Pennsylvania, a visit to Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, and considered herself a “rabid Penn State fan” ahead of Saturday’s loss to rival Ohio State, the team’s first of the season.

“No matter how long I’ve been away, I come back here and I love it. It is known. My family is here. All my childhood and high school friends are here. So the fact that the state I come from is also a critical swing state is actually perfect,” Williams said. “It makes me even hungrier to get the vote out.”