Donald Trump chose not to appear in court in his rape case but returned to social media for an announcement as the jury deliberations began.
Minutes before the case was to be handed to the jury for deliberation Tuesday morning, Trump posted on Truth Social about the allegations for the first time since the judge warned his attorney about his public disclosures.
Though he was never placed under a gag order or given strict guidelines for speech, his attorney was asked to warn him about disclosures that seemed aimed at reaching or influencing the jury.
However, in his new post, he claims to have been the victim of “unconstitutional silencing…as a candidate” and vows that he will appeal this ‘silencing’ when the verdict comes back.
He complains that E. Jean Carroll has written a book in which she shares her story of when he allegedly raped her and argues that he has not been allowed to defend himself, suggesting a double standard.
However, Carroll’s book was written when there was no reason to believe that the allegation would ever see a courtroom, during which time Trump also spoke freely, denying the accusation and disparaging the alleged victim.
During the trial, he was welcomed to defend himself from the witness stand and given minimal warning only about public statements that could be seen as trying to reach the jury. Today, he posted:
“Waiting for a jury decision on a False Accusation where I, despite being a current political candidate and leading all others in both parties, am not allowed to speak or defend myself, even as hard nosed reporters scream questions about this case at me. In the meantime, the other side has a book falsely accusing me of Rape, & is working with the press. I will therefore not speak until after the trial, but will appeal the Unconstitutional silencing of me, as a candidate, no matter the outcome!”
Notably, Trump has not actually been prevented from speaking to the press, as evidenced by his doing so during his trip to Ireland and Scotland.
He told reporters then that he was returning to the U.S. early to “confront” his accuser in the rape case, and accordingly, the judge gave him several days in which to file if he wanted to speak on his own behalf.
He did not do so.
The Truth Social post can be seen below.
