Stormy Daniels, the adult film performer whose alleged affair with Donald Trump spawned the historic hush money trial that he decried as a “witch hunt,” received a witchy award Thursday on Halloween for surviving his attempts to spin the narrative.
The ceremony was held in Salem, Massachusetts, the site of the infamous Salem Witch Trials during the late 1600s, which saw hundreds accused — and around 20 executed — as supposed “witches.”
Daniels was appropriately dressed like one when she accepted the first annual “Salem Witches’ Woman of Power Award” at the town commons and, in front of hundreds of fellow witches, chronicled living in a mobile home as a result of the blowback from her testimony about the former president.
“I was put on the stand two years ago and someone said I was unfit to testify because I was a witch,” said Daniels, per The Guardian. “I was honest, I was telling the truth and I was persecuted. To me this award should inspire others to speak up and not be silenced.”
Daniels told the Boston Globe she “screamed like a little girl” when she learned about the honor, which recognizes strength, intuition and “magic,” as she has been a self-described witch since childhood.
“No one understands what the last six years have been like for me,” she added. “Everyone else gets to turn off the TV and forget about politics, which has reached this next-level, dark insanity. I don’t get that opportunity. I’m living in an RV because I can’t go home. The persecution those witches felt hundreds of years ago feels very familiar to me.”
Andrew Burke-Stevenson/The Boston Globe/Getty Images
Christian Day, a self-described warlock who organized the event, praised Daniels.
“A lot of people know Stormy for being a porn star and fighting against Trump in court,” he told attendees, per the Guardian. “But a lot of people don’t know that she is a practicing witch, and that she is someone who stands out as a woman of power.”
Trump was convicted earlier this year on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to hide his $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels. He might well retake the White House next week. Daniels, meanwhile, says she’s lived “on the run” ever since her home address was displayed in court. (Trump’s attorney has said this was an accident.)
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The adult film actor launched a GoFundMe in June to raise money for a new house, and to help her escape the rape and death threats from Trump’s supporters.
“The best part is that Trump always says it’s a witch hunt against him,” she told the Globe. “That’s funny. People like to say Donald Trump is evil, but you need to be a genius to be evil, and he’s not that smart.”