Republican politicians are reacting to the decision that was passed down yesterday in New York Federal Court as former President Donald Trump was found liable for sexually abusing former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll decades ago. The president will have to pay $5 million in damages and speculation is running rampant that this ruling, plus additional lawsuits that still have yet to be decided, is making Trump a liability for the 2024 election.
Jurors rejected Carroll’s claim that she was raped in a dressing room at a high-end department store back in 1998 in New York City. Instead, the jury found Trump to be responsible for a lesser degree of sexual assault. The verdict also said that Trump was responsible for defaming Carroll over her allegations when he called her “a nut job,” who made up a “fraudulent and fake story” to sell her memoir. When the verdict was read, Carroll smiled through tears while nodding and then hugged supporters and her lawyer. As the courtroom cleared, Carroll could be heard laughing and crying as Trump’s lawyer Joseph Tacopina shook her hand and hugged her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan.
Outside the courtroom, Carroll, in her own statement, said that she brought the lawsuit against Trump in order “to clear my name and to get my life back. Today, the world finally knows the truth. This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed.”
Trump was not in the courtroom as the verdict was being read, but he did immediately take to social media to vent his disgust and frustration at the verdict posting that the jury got it wrong, the decision was “disgraceful” and that “the witch hunt continues.” Trump continued to maintain his innocence by posting on Truth Social in all caps, “I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE — A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME.” He also promised that he is appealing the decision.
This latest legal battle has only added to the legal woes the former president has had to deal with, but is also fueling rumors that he won’t be able to beat Joe Biden in 2024 if he gets the Republican nomination for president. The former president is fighting a criminal case in New York City that is related to hush money payments to an adult actress. The state attorney general is suing him, his family and his businesses over alleged financial wrongdoing. Trump is also contending with investigations in his possible connection and involvement into mishandling of classified documents, as well as his involvement his actions after the 2020 election was over and his role in the January 6, 2021 insurrection on the Capitol. Trump has steadfastly denied that he had anything to do with all those matters.
Most of Trump’s GOP rivals were silent after the decision in the civil suit came down, not wanting to cross Trump supporters who are critical in winning the presidential nomination. One rival, former Governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, who has announced he’s running for president on the GOP ticket, said after the verdict, this was “another example of the indefensible behavior of Donald Trump.”
Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) who has been one of Trump’s most vocal critics before, during, and after his election in 2016, said that the verdict shows that the former 45th president has no viability as an electable candidate for the 2024 election.
But there are politicians who are coming to Trump’s defense, wanting him to keep running for the highest office in the land.
Representative Harriet Hageman (R-WY), who was backed by Trump in the last election in defeating another antagonist the former president, Liz Cheney, echoed the same sentiment as Trump, calling the verdict a symptom of the people who hate the man. “There is no end to the Trump Derangement Syndrome that has infected so much of the establishment, including the New York City court system. The witch hunt continues,” said Hageman.
Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) is taking a more deferential approach to the latest in Trump’s legal woes, saying, “People already have their minds made up about Donald Trump. It will not make anyone love him less or hate him less. It is also a case that has been out in public for decades at this point. He had a trial and the jury came to a decision and that is that.”
Senator John Barrasso’s (R-WY) office did not return an email response when asked about the verdict.
