A Manhattan jury on Tuesday sided with the writer E. Jean Carroll in her civil case against former President Donald Trump, finding him liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll, and awarding her $5 million in damages. The jury did not find that Trump had raped her, as she has claimed. Trump says he will appeal. The closely watched trial stemmed from an incident in the 1990s, when Carroll says Trump sexually assaulted her in a department store dressing room in New York. “Today, the world finally knows the truth,” Carroll said in a statement, reacting to the verdict. “This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed.” We speak with columnist Moira Donegan, who covers gender and politics for The Guardian and who calls it “a really significant moment for American women, and specifically for the #MeToo movement.”
Excerpts from the transcript —
AMY GOODMAN: “You can do anything,” Trump said in that videotape. Well, during the videotape deposition, seen by the jury, Trump defended his comments in the Access Hollywood tape.
ROBERTA KAPLAN: Again, this has become very famous. In this video, “I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the [bleep]. You can do anything.” That’s what you said, correct?
DONALD TRUMP: Well, historically, that’s true with stars.
ROBERTA KAPLAN: It’s true with stars that they can grab women by the [bleep]?
DONALD TRUMP: Well, that’s what — it’s — if you look over the last million years, I guess that’s been largely true — not always, but largely true, unfortunately or fortunately.
ROBERTA KAPLAN: And you consider yourself to be a star?
DONALD TRUMP: I think you can say that, yeah.
MOIRA DONEGAN: It’s a really damning, it’s a really remarkable exchange. You know, that phrase “fortunately or unfortunately,” really, I think, bolstered Carroll’s claim that the Access Hollywood tape amounts to not, as Donald Trump had characterized it, mere, you know, quote-unquote, “locker room talk,” but really a confession, right? He’s reaffirming not only his misogynist attitudes but really a true lack of remorse and lack of a moral objection to sexual assault.
Please go here for the full program and transcript: https://www.democracynow.org/2023/5/10/e_jean_carroll_verdict_trump?utm_source=Democracy+Now%21&utm_campaign=ba5b36ec2f-Daily_Digest_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fa2346a853-ba5b36ec2f-191574905
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