In the trial of US author E. Jean Carroll’s rape allegation against Donald Trump in New York, the jury was played a video statement by the former president. In the recording, which was made last October, Trump defended his infamous remark about women: “You can grab ’em by the pussy”.
Trump was questioned by Carroll’s attorney in video for the 2005 Access Hollywood tape. In the audio recording, with the microphone unknowingly on, he says, “When you’re a star, they let you do anything. You can do anything […] Grab their pussy. You can do anything.”
“Historically, that’s true for stars,” Trump justified himself in the video that was shown on Thursday (local time), the seventh day of the rape trial, in federal court in Manhattan. “If you look at the last million years, that’s probably been the case for the most part. Not always, but largely. Unfortunately or fortunately.”
“And you think you’re a star?” asked Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan.
“I think so, yes,” Trump replied.
The audio recording of Trump’s misogynist statement became known during the 2016 election campaign and brought a lot of opposition to the then Republican presidential candidate – including from within his own ranks. Trump then admitted that the statement was a mistake: “I said it. It was wrong. I apologize,” he said in a recorded message released by his campaign team.
Carroll has accused Trump of raping her in a dressing room at the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan in the mid-1990s. He also damaged her reputation and career by denying the crime years later during his tenure, stating that the author was “not his type” and was “totally lying”. A social media and marketing expert hired by the 79-year-old told jurors Thursday the cost of repairing the reputational damage caused by Trump’s remarks could range from $368,000 to $2.8 million, according to Reuters.
Carroll’s allegations against Trump are statute-barred under criminal law, but not under civil law. The long-time columnist for the magazine “Elle” and former TV presenter has therefore sued the ex-president for allegations of rape and defamation for undisclosed damages. The civil process started a week ago.
Quellen: Reuters, “Huffington Post”, “New York Times”, “The Hill”