Donald Trump told the lie about Carroll in a recent deposition in which he provided what The Washington Post described as “rambling and combative testimony.” He claimed not to know Carroll, called her “mentally sick” and a “nut job” for accusing him of raping her in the dressing room of New York department store Bergdorf Goodman, in the 1990s.
Although his deposition testimony was sworn, Trump seems to have told a pack of lies in it. The Washington Post noted he lied about the popularity of his Truth Social app, claimed not to know Carroll, despite having been photographed with her and her then-husband and, at best, he misrepresented what Carroll said about rape in her 2019 interview on CNN.
In the interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Carroll declined to use the word “rape” because, she said, she preferred to think of the assault as “a fight.” She argued that the word “rape” has “so many sexual connotations” that invoke fantasies such as being “thrown on the ground and ravished,” which she was not. “This was not sexual. It just hurt,” she said.
Trump twisted those words to claim Carroll “loved it.”
More from The Post:
“She actually indicated that she loved it. Okay?” Trump said in the deposition. “In fact, I think she said it was sexy, didn’t she? She said it was very sexy to be raped.”
[Carroll’s attorney] then asked: “So, sir, I just want to confirm: It’s your testimony that E. Jean Carroll said that she loved being sexually assaulted by you?”
And Trump answered: “Well, based on her interview with Anderson Cooper, I believe that’s what took place.”
You don’t need a psychology degree to see the creepy implications of that testimony. In fact, it’s reminiscent of Trump’s comments in the now-infamous Access Hollywood video in which he boasted about sexually assaulting women: “I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait,” he said. “When you’re a star, they let you do it. … Grab them by the p---y, you can do anything.”
In 2020, Insider reported that at least 26 women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct.
