Trump found liable for sexual assault, as misogynists rush to defend him

Donald Trump has been found legally responsible for sexually assaulting magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll. The civil trial concluded in Manhattan, and means that Trump will have to pay financial sanctions. As the Guardian reported, the jury found that:

Trump subjected Carroll to sexual contact without consent by use of force, and that it was for the purpose of sexual gratification.

The jury didn’t find Trump liable for rape, and levied several charges against the former president. Trump will have to pay a number of costs to Carroll:

It [the jury] awarded about $5m in compensatory and punitive damages: about $2m on the sexual abuse count and close to $3m for defamation, for branding her a liar.

However, Trump doesn’t have to pay if an appeal is ongoing – his lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, confirmed the appeal will go ahead.

After the verdict, Carroll said:

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.

Staunch support

Unfortunately, but perhaps predictably, many Trump supporters have taken to Twitter to defend him. We see no reason to repeat their tweets here, but such staunch support is typical for Trumpers. Trump resorted to a familiar tactic, saying that the verdict was:

a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.

Barrister Charlotte Proudman shared her thoughts:

We all knew Donald Trump was a sexual predator, he said so himself. But now a court of law found that Trump sexually abused and defamed E Jean Carroll. When a woman stands up for herself, she stands up for all women. Thank you.

— Dr Charlotte Proudman (@DrProudman) May 9, 2023

Journalist Amanda Marcotte reminded people that Trump is not immune to civil and criminal process:

Morning! E. Jean Carroll's verdict is a victory for the #MeToo movement.

It's also one that various prosecutors with cases against Trump should pay attention to. He is not invincible. Juries can hear evidence against him and render fair verdicts. https://t.co/GQbcu63m67

— Amanda Marcotte (@AmandaMarcotte) May 10, 2023

Typical

Back here in the UK, Jacob Rees-Mogg blurted out some characteristic nonsense:

Jacob Rees-Mogg with a textbook example of misleading the public, after Donald Trump was found to have sexually abused and defamed writer E Jean Carroll. pic.twitter.com/V1GlzvuBDq

— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) May 10, 2023

Rees-Mogg said that:

The jury deliberating in the rape trial of Donald Trump has found the former US president not guilty of the rape charges made against him.

That’s not quite accurate, though. Civil trials have a lower standard of evidence than criminal trials. Jurors are asked to find if an event is more likely to have happened, than to not have happened. For a civil case, a defendant cannot be found guilty or not guilty – they can only found to be liable or not liable. Trump was found to be liable for sexual assault, but not for rape.

Of course, Rees-Mogg and Trump’s other supporters are entirely willing to split hairs here. Women regularly have to plead with the mainstream media to report equitably on sexual assault and rape. E. Jean Carroll had to recount her harrowing testimony and face vicious criticism from Trump’s fans. It’s no easy thing to have one’s life picked over, or to recall in a courtroom setting memories of sexual assault.

None of that matters to Trump and his supporters. It’s no accident that misogyny is woven into their swaggering politics. It’s central to their admiration for Trump. Now, Trump will continue with his run for the presidency, and we know just as much about his attitude to women now as we did back in 2016.

Featured image by Youtube/CBS News