Will Stormy Daniels Lead To The End Of Trump's Presidency?

A recently surfaced 2011 video shows porn star Stormy Daniels passing with flying colours in her polygraph test on her affair with the US President. The video, which has been viewed by a handful of news outlets, shows Daniels truthfully answering questions which affirm that she had unprotected vaginal intercourse with Donald Trump in July 2006. If the timeline is correct, then this encounter happened just a few months after Trump’s wife Melania gave birth to their son Barron.

It’s not the first major controversy of Trump’s vexed presidency. Yet Daniels – a porn star none the less, has managed to rock Trump’s chair more strongly than any other scandal.

Stormy-Trump controversy refuses to die down

The chief reason why Trump has managed to stay stable in this rocking boat, is his ability to squash all rumours and opposition

Every new Trump controversy in the last one year has died a fast death, leaving no open wounds for people to inspect. Be it his immense wealth or the presidential power, somehow Trump’s goofups and scandalous decisions vanish into thin air.

But this Stormy Daniels controversy refuses to die away. This probably is because it has two ingredients which Americans love the most -- sex and money. A news report said in January that Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid $130,000 to Daniels in 2016, just a month before the presidential elections. The money apparently was part of a non-disclosure agreement with Daniels. It prohibited her from discussing the affair publicly, so as to prevent any controversy which might impede Trump's chance to win the election. This means that Trump may have violated a federal election law by making that payment to Daniels. Also, Daniels (whose real name is Stephanie Clifford) has filed a suit against Trump claiming that he never signed their non-disclosure deal, hence it is invalid.

Why the Daniels controversy is important

What started out as a sex scandal has now escalated into alleged misuse of election campaign funds

With his political aids jumping the sinking ship at an alarming rate, Trump is increasingly becoming defenseless. Analysts predict that this might be the case which will damage his political career irreversibly.

It won’t be the first time when a sex scandal did more damage to a US president’s political career, than all his misplaced policies and decisions. The US media is practically hailing Stormy Daniels as America’s saviour. Some predict that she will manage to rid the country of the most bizarre presidential term.

More than a porn star

She has managed to ruffle Trump in a way his worst adversaries can only dream of. But Daniels is more than a porn star. She is a woman who is standing her ground under immense pressure. Despite mounting threats of harm and lawsuits by Trump against her, Daniels refuses to budge. She is a woman everyone refused to take seriously before, who is now firmly standing her ground. Perhaps it is her ability to shed prudence, which has kept her going. However, we cannot overlook the amount of courage needed to withstand threats, inquiry, lawsuits and media glare.

Daniels may not be able to put an end to Trump's presidential term. But if his term does come to an abrupt end, then she will for sure be an important causative agent to it.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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Yamini Pustake Bhalerao is a writer with the SheThePeople team, in the Opinions section.  The views expressed are author’s own.