E. Jean Carroll's Donald Trump Sexual Assault Allegation

Overview

E. Jean Carroll's Donald Trump Sexual Assault Allegation refers to an accusation of rape made by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll against United States President Donald Trump. The claim was made by Carroll in her memoir and corroborated by two friends. President Trump has denied the allegations, stating that he had never met Carroll. However, the two were photographed together in the past. Carroll is the 16th woman to accuse President Trump of sexual assault.

Background

On June 21st, 2019, E. Jean Carroll published an excerpt from her memoir in New York magazine.^[1] In the piece, she describes Donald Trump entering her dressing room, holding her against a wall and raping Carroll. She writes:

Still wearing correct business attire, shirt, tie, suit jacket, overcoat, he opens the overcoat, unzips his pants, and, forcing his fingers around my private area, thrusts his penis halfway -- or completely, I’m not certain -- inside me. It turns into a colossal struggle. I am wearing a pair of sturdy black patent-leather four-inch Barneys high heels, which puts my height around six-one, and I try to stomp his foot. I try to push him off with my one free hand -- for some reason, I keep holding my purse with the other -- and I finally get a knee up high enough to push him out and off and I turn, open the door, and run out of the dressing room.

Carroll goes on to write that the outfit she wore during the attack still hangs in her bedroom and that she never "had sex with anybody ever again."

New York magazine also published a photograph of Carroll and Trump together with Trump's former wife Ivana and Caroll's former husband John Johnson (shown below, left). Additionally, Carroll appeared on the cover of the magazine with the caption "This is what I was wearing 23 years ago when Donald Trump attacked me in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room" (shown below, right).

Developments

Trump's Response

Following the release of the story, President Trump denied the allegations, claiming that he had never met Carroll.^[2] The statement reads:

Regarding the “story” by E. Jean Carroll, claiming she once encountered me at Bergdorf Goodman 23 years ago. I’ve never met this person in my life. She is trying to sell a new book – that should indicate her motivation. It should be sold in the fiction section.

Online Reaction

Following the release of the article, many expressed their support of Carroll, particularly vouching for her credibility. Mike Godwin of Godwin's Law tweeted,^[3] "Some who don't know E. Jean Carroll's work will try to cast doubt. If you've been reading her for decades, though, you don't doubt her for a minute" (shown below, left).

Others criticized the media for the reaction to the story. Washington Post columnist wrote,^[4] "today’s exquisite, exhausting story from E. Jean Carroll and the response is making me feel a version of this all over again, and the fact that I already have words for watching such a wave break harmlessly, that the feeling is not *new*, feels even worse." The post received more than 1,900 likes and 500 retweets in less than one week (shown below, center).

Conservative writer David French tweeted,^[5] "How many contemporaneously-corroborated reports of sexual assault do Republicans need to read -- or tapes bragging about sexual assault do Republicans need to hear -- before they understand the president is a likely sex predator?" The tweet received more than 26,000 likes and 5,000 retweets in less than one week (shown below, right).

On June 21st, Twitter @dnewhauser published a video of presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren responding to a question about the allegations. She said, "We know Donald Turmp's character, and it's revealed every single day. There aren't any real surprises here, just the details." The post received more than 2,100 likes and 500 retweets (shown below).

Sen. ewarren</a> was asked about the new allegation of rape against <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">realDonaldTrump by E. Jean Carroll. Here’s her answer pic.twitter.com/K98xxwBTIp

— Daniel Newhauser (@dnewhauser) June 22, 2019

Media Coverage

On June 21st, Carroll appeared on Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC to discuss the allegations (shown below, left). Three days, later she was interviewed by CNN on the reaction from Trump (shown below, right).

Over the weekend, many criticized the media coverage of the allegation, and what many saw as lack there of coverage. Twitter use @jessicaesquire tweeted,^[6] "The @nytimes published E. Jean Carroll's accusation of rape against the president IN THE BOOKS SECTION […] I scrolled through the front page, the politics page, I was wondering if they'd somehow avoided it entirely. Nope! It's not news if a lady writes it in a book, I guess!" The first post received more than 6,500 likes and 1,000 retweets (shown below).

Nevertheless, reports on the allegation appeared in virtually all media outlets including The Guardian,^[7] ABC,^[8] NPR,^[9] Bloomberg,^[10] New York Times^[11] and more.

Search Interest

External References