Trump is liable of sexual abuse. Will that stop him?

Can a man who has been found “civilly liable” for sexual abuse in court be elected president of the United States? In a normal world, such a verdict might reasonably be expected to torpedo any candidate’s ambitions. But American politics today is the opposite of normal.

A Manhattan jury ordered Donald Trump to pay the writer E. Jean Carroll $5 million in damages on Tuesday — $2 million for her injuries for being molested by him and nearly $3 million for his defamation of her for denying her claims. Four years ago, in print, seventy-nine-year-old Carroll accused Trump of raping her in a New York department store in late 1995 or early 1996. Trump wholeheartedly denies the charge and the court did not find him guilty of rape. But the stench of the verdict, as well as various other criminal indictments, may well hang over him in the coming months as he seeks to win back the White House in 2024. 

At the same time, many voters — and not just the die-hard Trumpists — will sympathize with Trump’s assessment that the Carroll case is simply another part of what he calls the “WITCH HUNT” against him. The idea that this is — as he says — another politically motivated trial from New York Democrats will have wide resonance in America. 

Trump is not running for the White House as a repentant character. Quite the reverse

These are muddy waters. In this post-#MeToo era of “#believeallwomen,” it’s dangerous to cast doubt upon women who allege sexual abuse. Nobody wants to be accused of not taking a rape allegation seriously. But Trump’s supporters, and quite a few independent voters, will note that the Manhattan jury rejected the rape claim; they’ll also be aware that this is a civil trial, and that Carroll’s allegations are unlikely to have gotten very far in any criminal proceeding. 

Trump was sanctioned Tuesday more for his reaction to the charge than for what he may or may not have done to Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman store near Trump Tower. His defamation of Carroll — and the hurt he caused her — was the court’s biggest finding against him. 

Let’s go out on a limb and suppose for a moment the civil court ruled wrong and that Donald Trump is indeed innocent. It would, in that case, be understandable that Trump would deny the charge vociferously, even to the point of saying mean things about his accuser (which he continues to do). 

Trump’s legal team has moreover pointed towards quite a lot of evidence to show that the Carroll case is dubious and perhaps politically motivated. She can’t recall when the event took place. Trump’s lawyers also put to her that it was a curious coincidence that Carroll’s description of the alleged incident echoes a scene from a 2012 episode of the TV show Law & Order. 

In the episode, “Theater Tricks,” one character talks about a rape fantasy in Bergdorf Goodman: “Role-play took place in the dressing room of Bergdorf’s,” says a character on the show. “While she was trying on lingerie I would burst in.” Carroll alleged that she was in the lingerie section of Bergdorf’s when Trump burst in the dressing room and forced himself upon her. 

Carroll said she was “aware” of the episode and that the similarity between her story and the TV show plot was “astonishing.” But she denied having seen it. This is precisely the kind of detail that will be repeated on digital pro-Trump channels: the idea that (as Trump’s lawyer put it) his accuser was “making up” her allegation “based on a popular TV show.”

Trump is not running for the White House as a repentant character. Quite the reverse. Take his video-linked deposition in which he was asked about that infamous Access Hollywood tape that emerged in 2016: 

Lawyer: And you say — and again this has become very famous — in this video, “I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” That’s what you said. Correct?’

Trump: Well historically, that’s true with stars.

Lawyer: It’s true with stars that they can grab women by the pussy?

Trump: If you look over the last million years I guess that’s been largely true. Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately or fortunately.

Lawyer: And you consider yourself to be a star?

Trump: I think you can say that, yes.

Donald Trump won’t quit his bid for re-election: he’s far too stubborn. But while not all of the allegations against him will stick, taken together they could undermine his candidacy. His opponents can now say that he is an accused rapist who has been found “civilly liable” for sexual abuse and indicted for business fraud. He’ll reply that these are all lies. Polls in the coming weeks will give us a sense of how many Americans believe him.

This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.