Former President Donald Trump remains among his own worst enemies in terms of the real-world, negative consequences stemming in direct terms from his own public, purposeful action.
In recent days on his knock-off social media site Truth Social, Trump brazenly misrepresented the facts around a woman named E. Jean Carroll — again. Carroll is the writer who brought high-profile civil litigation against Trump that accused him of defamation and sexual assault. (The successfully alleged defamation was in reference to Trump’s antagonistic responses to Carroll’s account of him targeting her in the 1990s.) And across two successive trials stemming from Carroll’s claims, Trump ended up with nearly $90 million in penalties after Carroll challenged Trump statements from both during his presidency and afterwards that Trump posted online.
And here he is again.
“I had New York Federal Judge, Lewis Kaplan, with a woman who I never knew, and had nothing to do with, until she sued me for “defamation.” She did not know what day, month, or year the supposed “incident” took place – She knew nothing,” Trump wrote online, brazenly misrepresenting the nature of what Carroll was alleging. “Kaplan, a Hillary friend, wouldn’t even let my lawyers put on a proper case, made it two cases instead of one, took away my American Right to defend myself, and was a Crazed Bully […]. This mysterious lady, who said rape is sexy, got $91 Million Dollars.”
Carroll did not characterize rape as “sexy.” In a CNN interview, she simply contended that there is that perception among some in the general public. There is a clear difference! Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer for Carroll, already indicated readiness after the second trial’s conclusion for the possibility of additional legal challenges to the former president.
