Writer E. Jean Carroll gave extensive testimony against the former president in the rape case against Donald Trump. She claims that he raped her and also accuses him of slander. In an at times emotional testimony, the 79-year-old detailed how Trump allegedly raped her in the fitting room of a luxury department store in 1996. The former president has always denied this.
“I’m here because Donald Trump raped me. And when I wrote about it, he lied that it never happened,” Carroll said in court in New York. “He lied and shattered my reputation. I’m here now to get my life back.” She said she was seriously traumatized by the incident and said she was happy that she could tell her story now.
In her testimony, the former columnist for Elle said she ran into Trump at luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan. At first she had found the meeting amusing, because Trump would have asked her to help him pick out a gift for someone else. The atmosphere is said to have changed after Trump asked her to try on lingerie.
Trauma relived
According to Carroll, Trump followed her into a fitting room, closed the door, pinned her against the wall, and pulled down her tights. “I pushed him away. I was too scared to think about whether I was anxious or not.” Trump allegedly overpowered her and penetrated her, first with his hand and later with his genitals, she said. “Sitting here, I still feel it.”
Afterwards, the writer blamed herself, because she herself had finally ended up with him in the fitting room. “Very stupid,” she calls it now. A day later she told two friends. One of them had been raped herself and advised Carroll to go to the police. A second friend advised her not to tell anyone, because Trump is a powerful man and he would litigate her.
In the years since the incident, Carroll has been plagued by reliving experiences, she said. “I’ve had that since the abuse. They became more common right after the abuse, but they’ve remained,” said the author. Since her experience, she says she has not been able to share a bed with anyone. “I am aware that I have had to miss one of the most beautiful experiences in my life. Being in love with someone, preparing dinner together, walking the dog. I don’t have any of that.”
Trump addressed on messages
Trump, who has denied Carroll’s allegations for years, was not present in court. He does, however, lash out at the writer with some regularity. Likewise yesterday. On his social media network Truth Social, he spoke of cheating and an incorrect story. “Didn’t she scream? Were there no witnesses? No one who saw this?” he wondered.
The judge confronted Trump’s lawyer in court about the posts on Truth Social, which he found inappropriate. Trump’s lawyer has promised that he will ask the former president to stop posting about the lawsuit. Whether Trump will also speak in court at a later date is not yet known. Carroll will speak again later in the case.
- Trump in court fiercely in denial of rape: ‘crazy’
- Trump and his companies are under ‘at least 12’ investigations
- Trump denies rape again: ‘She’s not my type’
