In a recent development reported by Newsweek on Friday, January 26, 2024, former President Donald Trump has launched a strong verbal assault against writer E. Jean Carroll on his newly established social media platform, Truth Social. Carroll had previously accused Trump of sexual assault, leading to a defamation lawsuit.
During his testimony on Thursday in the ongoing lawsuit, Trump vehemently denied any knowledge of or involvement in assaulting Carroll, dismissing the case as a “political witch hunt.” Carroll alleges that Trump sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman store dressing room in New York in the mid-1990s.
The defamation suit was filed by Carroll in 2019 after Trump publicly rejected her claim, stating she was “not my type.” In a significant development in May 2023, Carroll won a sexual battery and defamation case against Trump, resulting in a jury finding him liable for the assault and ordering him to pay $5 million in damages.
The current lawsuit, overseen by Judge Lewis Kaplan, is a separate civil action aimed at holding Trump accountable for the statements that adversely affected Carroll’s reputation. Judge Kaplan has ruled that arguments about the occurrence of the assault cannot be presented to the jury, as that aspect has been determined in the previous case.
Despite appearing in court and affirming his denial of the assault, Trump unleashed a verbal attack on Carroll through Truth Social, his alternative to Twitter and Facebook. In a video message on the platform, Trump claimed ignorance about Carroll and accused her of being part of a “scam” orchestrated by “Democrat operatives.”
Trump further alleged that evidence proving funding for Carroll’s legal bills by George Soros, a billionaire philanthropist often criticized by Republicans and conspiracy theorists, was not allowed in court. Carroll responded to Trump’s video message on Twitter, expressing confidence that the jury would see through his attempts to discredit her.
“Trump is lying again. He knows me very well. He knows what he did to me. He knows he defamed me. And he knows he will pay for it,” Carroll tweeted. “I am not afraid of him or his Truth Social. I am not afraid of the truth.”
