Video of testimony by Donald Trump, which was shown Thursday to juries at the civil trial in New York, where the former American president is being accused by an author of rape, was released on Friday and the media began airing it.
For 48 minutes, we see Donald Trump, wearing a blue tie and white shirt under a dark jacket, defending himself, sometimes vehemently, and answering questions from plaintiff’s attorney, former Elle magazine columnist E. John Carroll.
The now 79-year-old ex-journalist accused Donald Trump in a 2019 book of raping her in a fitting room in the lingerie department of New York luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman in the mid-1990s, after which she filed a complaint against him for defamation, then last November for rape in a civil lawsuit.
“This is the most ridiculous, disgusting story”
The Republican billionaire did not appear at the trial, which began last week, and in his absence, excerpts from video taken at the trial in October 2022 were broadcast during the trial.
“It’s the most ridiculous, disgusting story. It’s an invention out of nowhere,” he says of the allegations, calling E. Jean Carroll a “liar” and “sick.”
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He reiterates that he doesn’t know the journalist and reiterates that she is “not (his) type”. But when the lawyer shows him a photograph of himself in front of E. Jean Carroll at a party years before they allegedly met in 1996, he mistakes the complainant for his ex-wife Marla. “It’s very vague,” he adds when his attorney corrects him by whispering, “It’s (E. Jean) Carroll.”
“If you’re a star, they let you do it”
The former president is also invited to respond to his comments in a now-famous video in 2005, in which we hear him brag about kissing and touching the women he likes at will. And to add: “If you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do everything. Catch her by the pussy”.
“It’s historically true for stars (…) if you look at the last million years, I think it’s true to a large extent, not always, but to a large extent, whether we regret it or not,” he explains.
“And do you consider yourself a star? ‘ asks E. Jean Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan. “I think you can say that, yes,” he replies.
Several journalists had asked the presiding judge on Thursday after the trial to release the video, but he ruled it was up to the parties to do so.