Trump Makes Colossally Stupid Mistake During his Rape Trial
On This Day In 2019
More than two dozen women say Donald Trump sexually assaulted them. E. Jean Carroll reported details of how Trump had raped her. Shocker: He denied the charges, as reported by the NYT OTDI 2019.
In 2023, though, a jury found that Trump had indeed assaulted her and, as the judge explained, raped her. Here’s the tale of Trump’s particularly bad cover-up:
E. Jean Carroll is a well-respected and widely-read author. She came out with the details of how the “P***y Grabber-in-Chief” had grabbed her genitals and penetrated her, in a New York City department store dressing room.
Trump’s reply? “I’ve never met this person in my life,” he said—even as a photograph came to light showing them talking at a party.
But here’s the truly awful mistake Trump made: He crystallized his reason why he WOULDN’T try to have sex with her: “She’s not my type,” he explained. That became his primary defense against the assault charges.
Fast forward to October 2022. Trump is sitting for his deposition in the case against him. They show Trump a pic of a woman and ask him to identify her. So how does Trump answer? “That’s Marla, yeah, that’s my wife.” Marla is Trump’s second wife. So, presumably, that woman in the photo was indeed his “type,” right?
Big mistake: That woman in the photo was actually E. Jean Carroll.
The former president was found liable of sexually abusing and raping Carroll, and was ordered to pay her $5 million in damages. Later, he was found liable in a second case involving Carroll too; total damages now approach $100MM, and there may still be more to come.
He raped her: Are you surprised to hear that the judge determined that he raped her? The WaPo explains why that’s the correct usage of that word.
Dive Deeper
The New York Times covered Trump’s denials
The AP reported on Trump and Carroll’s public comments in the wake of Carroll coming forward
Read Carroll’s essay about Trump