Former President Donald Trump disparaged writer E. Jean Carroll in a CNN town hall Wednesday night, a day after a federal grand jury in New York found him responsible for assault and defamation in a civil suit stemming from allegations that he raped Carroll in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.
The jury did not find that Trump was responsible for the rape, but he did sexually abuse Carroll and then defamed her when she came forward several years ago. Carroll was awarded a total of $5 million in damages. After the verdict, Trump claimed he did not know Carroll and was “silenced” from speaking publicly about the case, despite the court giving him multiple opportunities to speak at the trial and he refusing to do so.
On Wednesday night in Manchester, New Hampshire, Trump denounced the jury’s verdict in the civil case and called Carroll a “shit job,” using language similar to what prompted his defamation verdict in the first place. . Trump called Carroll’s story “false” and “made up,” even though a jury unanimously and quickly reached the verdict. Trump was asked what he says to voters who say the verdict disqualifies him for president.
“Well, not too much because my poll numbers just came out; they went up,” Trump said to the delight of some in the audience. The audience was made up of Republicans and undecided voters, according to CNN. Several voters who asked Trump questions voted for him in 2020.
It’s unclear which poll Trump is referring to, as no major polls were taken or released within 24 hours of the verdict.
Trump called the trial a “rigged deal.” She also scoffed at Carroll’s accusation that he sexually assaulted her at the department store and swore on her children’s lives that she did not assault Carroll.
“They didn’t rape her, okay? … And I didn’t do anything else either, okay, because I don’t know who the hell she is,” Trump said to laughter from the audience.
CBS News has reached out to Carroll’s attorney for comment. After the verdict was read Tuesday, Carroll said in a statement: “I filed this lawsuit against Donald Trump to clear my name and get my life back. Today, the world finally knows the truth. This victory is not just for me but for all the women who have suffered because they didn’t believe her”.
Kimberly Rice, a Republican and former speaker pro tempore of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, told CBS News’ Robert Costa on Wednesday that she hopes everyone takes the verdict seriously.
“I’ve been in a position where a boss has chased me before. And, you know, women have to be believed,” she said. “The jurors saw the evidence … Just because you’re a celebrity doesn’t give you the right to sexually abuse anyone.”
Rice, however, doubted the impact the verdict could have on Trump’s stronghold of the Republican base.
“His fans are very devoted, you know, and that’s up to them. I don’t speak for, you know, everybody, and I don’t pretend to. I just know how I feel in my heart,” he said.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
Trump on January 6
On another matter, Trump told a town hall Wednesday night that he is “willing” to pardon supporters convicted of multiple charges for their roles in the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol and efforts to alter election results.
“I’m inclined to pardon a lot of them,” Trump said. “I can’t say about all of them because probably a couple of them got out of hand.”
Trump said it would be a “large portion” of the convicted rioters, whom he called “great people,” that he would pardon, adding that the alleged rioters sitting in prison are “living in hell.”
When asked if he regrets that day, Trump emphasized how big the crowd was that day and said his supporters showed up in DC “with love in their hearts.”
The former president also called Ashli Babbitt, the Trump supporter who was shot and killed by Capitol Police and has since been martyred by the far right, a “patriot” and called the police officer who fatally shot her “a thug.”
Trump was also asked if his Vice President Mike Pence, deserved an apology for the actions of the rioters on Jan. 6, who threatened to hang Mike Pence as the storming of the Capitol unfolded. Trump refused to offer one “because he did something wrong.”
“I should have sent the votes back to the state legislatures and I think we would have had a different result,” Trump said.
Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that the 2020 election was “rigged” in President Joe Biden’s favor. One voter asked Trump if he would “suspend the polarizing talk of voter fraud” during his run for president.
Trump was wrong. “Yes, unless I see voter fraud,” he replied.
Kaitlin Collins, the CNN anchor moderating the town hall, noted that the former president and his team lost more than 60 lawsuits alleging the 2020 election was fraudulent.
Debt ceiling: Tells GOP members of Congress, “if you don’t get massive cuts, you’re going to have to default.”
The impasse over the debt ceiling continues, with Trump proposing that Republicans not budge on their insistence on cutting spending in exchange for raising or suspending the debt limit.
“I say to the Republicans — congressmen, senators — if you don’t get massive cuts, you’re going to have to defect. And I don’t think they will because I think the Democrats will absolutely fall because you don’t want that to happen. But it’s better than what we’re doing now because we’re spending money like drunken sailors.”
Asked by Collins if he thought the US “should default if the White House doesn’t agree to the spending cuts that the Republicans are asking for,” Trump replied: “Well, you might as well now because you’re going to later”.
Russia-Ukraine war
Trump was also wrong about whether he wants Ukraine to win as Russia continues its unilateral assault on the sovereign nation.
Asked if he wants Ukraine to win the war, Trump said: “I don’t think in terms of winning and losing.” Pressed again on whether he wants Ukraine or Russia to win the war, Trump said: “I want everybody to stop dying. They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians.”
The former president complained that the US has provided Ukraine with more funding for the war than European nations, and did not say whether, if elected, he would continue to provide arms and funding to Ukraine.
“Let me put it in a nicer way,” he said. “If I am president, I will resolve this war in one day, 24 hours.” Asked for more details, Trump replied: “First, I’m going to meet with Putin. I’m going to meet with Zelenskyy. They both have weaknesses and they both have strengths. And in 24 hours this war will be resolved. It will be over.”
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