Key takeaways:
- Trump faced backlash for disparaging E. Jean Carroll during a CNN town hall, one day after a federal jury found him liable for battery and defamation in a civil trial stemming from rape allegations.
- The jury found Trump liable for battery and defamation, awarding Carroll $2 million in damages.
- Trump’s comments were widely condemned by legal experts and advocates for survivors of sexual assault, as they were seen as an attempt to undermine the jury’s verdict and discredit Carroll.
Former President Donald Trump faced backlash Wednesday night for disparaging writer E. Jean Carroll during a CNN town hall, one day after a federal jury in New York found him liable for battery and defamation in a civil trial stemming from allegations he raped Carroll in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.
The town hall was hosted by CNN and began with Trump lying about the 2020 election, claiming it was “rigged” and that his vice president had done “something wrong” by not declaring Trump the winner.
When asked about the civil trial, Trump claimed he didn’t know Carroll and that he was “silenced” from speaking publicly about the case. However, the court gave him multiple opportunities to speak at the trial and he declined to do so.
The jury found Trump liable for battery and defamation in the civil trial, awarding Carroll $2 million in damages. The jury also found that Trump had made false and defamatory statements about Carroll in denying the rape allegation.
The verdict was seen as a major victory for Carroll and her legal team, who argued that Trump had defamed her by denying the rape allegation and claiming that she was “totally lying” and “not my type.”
Trump’s disparaging comments about Carroll during the town hall were widely condemned by legal experts and advocates for survivors of sexual assault. Many argued that Trump’s comments were an attempt to undermine the jury’s verdict and discredit Carroll.
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