The Carroll case is a test of Trump’s ability, as he campaigns for a presidential run in 2024, to survive scandals which would bring down others.
NEW YORK – E. Jean Carroll described in sometimes harrowing detail the day she claims Donald Trump raped in a department store changing room two decades before he was elected president. The Republican has denied the allegations repeatedly and vehemently.
Two friends testified in Carroll’s defense this week. They said they spoke to the former magazine journalist shortly after the alleged attack of 1996, and they believe that she is telling truth.
Other women also testified about separate incidents. One woman said Trump grabbed her and groped on a flight with her in the late 1970s. The other woman told jurors that he kissed her forcibly at his Florida home in 2004.
The accounts shared during the civil case on Carroll’s claims against Trump for battery and defamation mark the first time any of the many allegations of sexual misconduct have been heard by a court.
Trump, when given the chance to refute Carroll’s allegations on the witness stand, declined to appear, choosing to travel overseas instead. He told reporters in Ireland he could still testify personally, despite his attorney’s statement in court that it would not be possible.
Most politicians would have their future ambitions ruined by the accusations made in a New York courtroom. Trump is not your average politician. This became apparent when he won the 2016 Presidential contest, just a month after a “Access Hollywood” video was released in which he boasted of sexually assaulting a woman and said, as a celebrity, “you can achieve anything.”
As Trump campaigns to be president in 2024, the Carroll case is a test of Trump’s capacity to survive scandals which would bring down others. Some political analysts say that the public has already formed a hardened opinion of the former president – love him or dislike him – and that the allegations about him abusing woman are not new.
“At this stage, the American public has a pretty good idea of Donald Trump’s personality, so it’s unlikely that the Carroll Trial will change the minds of many voters,” said Christina Wolbrecht a political science Professor at the University of Notre Dame, who studies politics and women.
She said that a more pertinent question is whether a conviction in another case or a verdict against Trump will scare off potential donors or advisors.
In addition to the Carroll Case, Trump was recently indicted in New York on 34 felony counts for falsifying business records as part of a hush money scheme to cover-up allegations of extramarital relations during the 2016 election campaign.
He is also being investigated for his attempts to reverse his loss in the 2020 election and his retention after leaving office of classified documents.
Celinda Lake is a Democratic pollster who has worked for President Joe Biden. She said that in recent focus groups with Democratic and Independent likely voters about Trump’s legal troubles, women repeatedly mentioned that they were most concerned by the “rape case.” This has led Lake to believe that the trial testimony may be more damaging than initially thought.
Lake said, “I was shocked, because I thought that this was baked into” how voters feel about Trump. “They knew that he wasn’t a respecter of women and was a playboy, but the rape is radically different.”
Steven Cheung, the spokesperson for Trump’s presidential campaign, did not reply to a request for comment on this story.
According to a survey conducted by The Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research last month, Trump’s legal issues have had a limited impact on politics. However, this could change.
Only 4 out of 10 Americans believe Trump acted illegally when it comes to the New York hush money case. The poll found that about half of respondents believed he broke the Georgia law, where he’s under investigation for interfering with the 2020 election vote count.
The poll also revealed that about half of respondents felt the same way about Trump’s role as a leader in his supporters’ storming the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2020, and his handling classified documents discovered at Mar-a-Lago. The poll did ask about the Carroll case.
Carroll filed a defamation lawsuit against Trump when he was still President, for denials and insults she received. She filed her rape suit in November under a New York law that allows victims of sexual assault to sue for alleged assaults that occurred decades ago.
Carroll is seeking unspecified damages. Because this is a civil case and not a criminal one, Trump will not face prison time.
Jurors were able to view portions of a recorded deposition where Trump answered questions under oath in the fall. He called Carroll “mentally sick” and a “nutjob”, adding that “she said that I did some thing to her that never happened.” The jury was also shown the “Access Hollywood tape.”
Trump, his lawyers and his supporters have dismissed Carroll’s allegations as political attacks and an effort to sell more copies her memoir. Trump has claimed that he was not at the department store when Carroll first told her story and had no idea who she was. Trump called the case a “fabricated SCAM” on his social media network.
Carroll, who is a registered Democrat, also testified that she voted for Trump’s Democratic opponents in 2016 and 2020, but said this has nothing to do with her lawsuit. Carroll, a registered Democrat who voted for Trump’s Democratic opponent in 2016 and 2020, also testified. However, she said this had nothing to do with the lawsuit.
Rachel O’Leary Carmona is the executive director of Women’s March and she hopes that Carroll’s story will mobilize voters. Women’s marches were held across the country to protest Trump’s election. The events are credited with increasing political involvement among women.
She said: “I hope we can take this as another proof of how absolutely, critically urgent it is to build women’s power in this country.”
Typically, the Associated Press does not identify people who claim to have been sexually abused unless they come out publicly as Carroll did.
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