Part of Donald Trump’s October deposition has been unsealed in the case against him by E. Jean Carroll, who alleged that he raped her in a department store — and then damaged her career by lying about it and defaming her.
His responses paint a horrifying picture of a victim-blamer who simultaneously denies the crime — and then says that Carroll “loved it.”
The released portions of the transcript show Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, questioning the former president about his actions in the department store, and about the way he’s spoken about the alleged victim in the public sphere since she first shared her story.
At one point, these questions begin to focus on Trump’s posts on Truth Social since the discovery process began.
Kaplan is asking about misleading clips Trump posted from a 2019 interview, in which Carroll talked about society’s obsession with rape, the tendency to portray rape as exciting and ‘sexy,’ and how that portrayal makes it difficult for victims.
Trump, at the time, posted clips from that interview — cut to make it seem as though Carroll herself was saying that she enjoyed being sexually assaulted.
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In the deposition, Trump is asked about this — and insists that Carroll’s video is evidence that she “loved it” and that she only describes it as an assault when publishers and other influencers convince her to do so.
In a copy of the transcript shared by PBS, he tells Kaplan:
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“She fainted with great emotion.· She actually indicated that she loved it.”
That’s not all, though. He continues to twist Carroll’s words, insisting that the plaintiff just really, really loves rape.
“In fact, I think she said it was sexy, didn’t she?· She said it was very sexy to be raped.”
Kaplan pushes back, asking Trump to acknowledge that what Carroll said was actually about social portrayals of rape, not her own feelings.
But Trump brushes this away, saying that he doesn’t know and that the interview was a long time ago and telling Kaplan to just watch it herself.
A CNN transcript of the interview, in fact, shows that Carroll was telling Cooper how much the word “rape” shifts people’s views to focus on sex when she feels that what she went through was less sex than a violent assault.
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“I was not thrown on the ground and ravished. Which, the word “rape” carries so many sexual connotations. This was not — this was not sexual. It just hurt.”
Trump also takes the opportunity to reiterate his oft-repeated attempt at an alibi, telling Kaplan that the alleged victim is “not [his] type.”
“There’s no way I would ever be attracted to her.· Now, some people would be attracted to her perhaps. I would never be attracted to her.”
Then there’s a point when Kaplan presses him on why he’d feel the need to post the altered video on his social media, and Trump flips out, declaring that he’ll keep posting, and when the case comes to an end, he’ll sue both Carroll and Kaplan.
“I posted and I will continue to post until such time as — and then I will sue her after this is over, and that’s the thing I really look forward to doing. And I’ll sue you too…So I will be suing you also, but I’ll be suing her very strongly as soon as this case ends. But I’ll be suing you also.”
“Are you done?” Kaplan asks.
“Yeah,” Trump subsides.
With a Federal judge rejecting Trump’s umpteenth attempt to dismiss Carroll’s lawsuit against him yesterday, the former president may soon find himself on the witness stand to repeat his misogynistic claims in his defense.
Steph Bazzle covers politics and theocracy, always aiming for a world free from extremism and authoritarianism. Follow Steph on Twitter @imjustasteph.