Former President Donald Trump repeated claims about E. Jean Carroll for which he was found liable of defamation as he spoke to reporters on Friday after appearing in court for an appeal hearing.
The former president spoke for nearly an hour at Trump Tower in New York after briefly attending oral arguments where his lawyers pushed for a new civil trial after a jury’s 2023 verdict that Trump pay $5 million for sexually assaulting Carroll in the mid-1990s in a department store dressing room and later defaming her in his denials of her claims after she went public in 2019. Trump’s appearance in court on Friday was voluntary, not mandatory.
He talked about multiple accusations against him from three different women, often making derogatory comments about Carroll and two other accusers: Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff.
Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct by about two dozen women, and has denied all such claims. Carroll’s battery allegation was the first to make it before a jury.
At one point, he claimed the photo of him and Carroll could’ve been AI generated.
“I never met her. I have never touched her. I would have no interest in meeting her in any shape or form,” Trump said Friday. He said Carroll’s testimony was “a made-up fabricated story by somebody just looking to promote a book.”
Carroll’s attorney said they were listening to Trump repeat some of the same statements the jury found to be defamatory.
“I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: all options are on the table,” Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan told ABC News.
Speaking about his alleged encounter with Leeds — who claimed Trump groped her on an airplane in the 1970s, an accusation Trump has long denied — Trump at one point said it couldn’t have happened because she “wouldn’t have been the chosen one.”
“And frankly, I know you are going to say it’s a terrible thing. But it couldn’t have happened,” he said. “It didn’t happen. She would not have been the chosen one. She would not have been the chosen one.”
Trump went on to claim that Leeds will follow Carroll by suing him.
“Now, I assume she’ll sue me for defamation like I got sued by E. Jean Carroll, who interestingly said she’s been hurt and damaged,” claiming Carroll made money out of the case.
With his lawyers standing behind him, Trump expressed frustration with his legal team for how they handled Friday morning’s hearing.
“I’m disappointed in my legal talent, I’ll be honest with you,” Trump said as he ticked through arguments he wanted them to bring up that they did not.
Trump used Carroll’s case to highlight what he calls a weaponization of the justice system, trying to tie his legal challenges to the Biden-Harris White House with no evidence.
“This is a long and complicated web and story, but it all goes back to the DOJ and Kamala and Sleepy Joe and all the rest of them. We have a whole rigged election system,” Trump said.
