In a normal political party, the E. Jean Carroll case would have effectively ended Donald Trump’s political career. Last year, several months after the Republican launched his 2024 candidacy, a jury found the former president 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 Trump 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.’”
For the Republican’s foes — especially those running against him for the party’s presidential nomination — this probably should’ve been a brutal cudgel to use against him. After all, American voters have rallied behind all kinds of national candidates, but “man found liable for sexual abuse” would break new ground.
And yet, when former Ambassador Nikki Haley appeared on CNN the day after the Iowa caucuses, and was asked about Trump’s Carroll scandal, she seemed awfully eager to give her opponent a pass.
DANA BASH: How do you feel about your party's frontrunner being found liable for sexual abuse?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 16, 2024
NIKKI HALEY: First of all, I haven't paid attention to his cases. All I know is he's innocent until proven guilty. You have investigations on Trump and Biden. pic.twitter.com/cqlX6QITZ9
After CNN’s Dana Bash asked the South Carolinian how she feels about her party’s frontrunner being found liable for sexual abuse, Haley responded, “I haven’t paid attention to his cases and I’m not a lawyer. All I know is that he’s innocent until proven guilty, and when he’s proven guilty, and he’s sitting in a courtroom — that’s exactly what I’m talking about. You’ve got investigations on Trump and Biden.”
Let’s break that answer down a bit.
“I haven’t paid attention to his cases.” Really? Haley can recite obscure details from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ record from memory, but she has no idea what happened when a jury found Trump — the candidate she’s ostensibly trying to defeat — liable for sexual assault?
“All I know is that he’s innocent until proven guilty.” In a general sense, that’s certainly true, but in the Carroll case, a jury weighed the evidence and concluded that Trump was, in fact, responsible for sexual assault. The case has already been adjudicated. The verdict was announced months ago. None of this is a secret. “You’ve got investigations on Trump and Biden.” Oh, good, we’ve reached the point in the process in which a leading presidential hopeful, asked about the Carroll case, thought it’d make sense to try to both-sides the scandal. But as notable as the details are, it’s also worth pausing to appreciate the broader context. Haley, appearing on national television, was asked a good question. The Republican, who wants her party’s race to be seen as a “two-person” contest, was asked about the fact that her principal intraparty opponent was found to have sexually abused a woman. And the candidate didn’t want to talk about it. The next time Haley denies interest in being Trump’s running mate, keep this story in mind.
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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