Trump Reassures Nation Sexual Abuse Verdict Will Not Interfere With His Continued Defamation Of Accuser

GOFFSTOWN, N.H. Appearing before a live primary-season audience Wednesday evening, former President Donald J. Trump moved quickly to reassure the nation that the sexual abuse verdict handed down against him one day earlier would in no way interrupt his ongoing campaign to defame the woman who brought it.

Less than twenty-four hours after a federal jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll, Trump told the audience that her account was a "fake" and a "made up story," described her as a "whack job," and assured viewers, "I have no idea who this woman is," a clarification that drew warm applause from the assembled New Hampshire Republicans. Aides confirmed the remarks were delivered to demonstrate that no finding by any court would be permitted to slow the underlying conduct the court had just ruled on.

The venue had been arranged by CNN, which according to network officials had set aside roughly seventy minutes of live prime-time airtime so that Trump could speak directly to voters, and which received in exchange a sustained firehose of false claims, including the renewed and repeatedly fact-checked insistence that the 2020 election had been stolen from him. "We gave him a stage, a microphone, and an audience," said one source familiar with the booking, speaking on condition of anonymity because the ratings were excellent. "He gave us everything we advertised."

When moderator Kaitlan Collins attempted at several points to correct the record, Trump informed her that she was "a nasty person," a designation the crowd received with cheers. Sources within the campaign noted that the exchange functioned exactly as intended, converting an attempted factual rebuttal into a live applause line and confirming for the candidate that being corrected in public remained, on balance, an excellent use of his time.

Over the course of the hour the former President additionally described the January 6 attack on the Capitol as "a beautiful day," signaled his willingness to pardon many of those convicted in it, declined to say whether he wanted Ukraine to win its war against Russia, and would not commit to accepting the result of the 2024 election should he lose it. Constitutional scholars praised the appearance as a comprehensive preview, observing that voters had once again been told in advance, in the candidate's own words and on a major news network, precisely what they were being offered.

At press time, attorneys for E. Jean Carroll were reviewing a recording of the broadcast with the calm, focused expressions of people who had just been handed their next lawsuit.