Common sense suggests Donald Trump would want to stop talking about E. Jean Carroll. It was, after all, just last year when the writer won a civil case against the former president: A jury found the Republican liable for sexually abusing Carroll, and jurors awarded the writer $5 million in damages for her battery and defamation claims.
The jury did not find the defendant liable for rape, though a judge later concluded that the former president, for all intents and purposes, “‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape.’”
This was not, however, the final word on the subject. As NBC News reported, the Republican is still facing a second defamation trial, stemming from comments Trump made about Carroll in 2019. The former president and his lawyers have tried to delay that case, and to date, they’ve failed. The result is a trial that’s poised to begin in a couple of weeks.
The developments appear to have taken a toll on Trump. The New Republic noted:
Over the span of about 30 minutes Thursday morning, Trump made 31 posts about Carroll on Truth Social. Although he didn’t say anything himself, he shared stories from conservative outlets attacking her and comments from internet users calling her “creepy.” He also shared media interview clips and social media posts that appear to come from Carroll, all stripped of context so as to paint her as some sort of sexual deviant.
To be sure, it was unsettling to see the former president use his social media platform to go after Carroll so furiously over the course of 28 minutes. (The tirade began at 10:45 a.m. eastern, and wrapped up at 11:13 a.m. eastern.)
But then Trump did it again about nine hours later, publishing 40 additional items to his online platform. Most featured this text: “Except for a Fraudulent Case against me, I had no idea who E. Jean Carroll was. She called her African American Husband an ‘ape,’ and named her Cat ‘Vagina.’ Look at her Tweets, Stories, and the CNN Interview about her. The Judge on the Case is another Highly Partisan Clinton-Appointed Friend. He should have recused himself long ago!” The Republican published this exact same message, word for word, over and over and over and over and over and over again for nearly an hour. Even by Trump standards, it was a bit much. Iowa’s Republican presidential caucuses are 10 days away. New Hampshire’s Republican presidential primary is a week later. The former president is apparently confident he can publish 71 items online about Carroll over the course of two tantrums and succeed anyway.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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