The former president fired off a series of potentially defamatory statements as he arrived in court
As he arrived at a federal courthouse in lower Manhattan, Donald Trump’s Truth Social account released an avalanche of posts attacking E Jean Carroll, who is suing the former president for defamation.
A jury in New York City will determine what damages he owes Ms Carroll, whom Mr Trump defamed by repeatedly calling her a liar and denying that he sexually assaulted her.
It’s the second trial stemming from defamation claims brought by Ms Caroll, and a jury already found him civilly responsible for sexually abusing her in the 1990s. He continues to claim that he never met her and has repeatedly mocked and ridiculed Ms Carroll in the wake of that verdict.
He is banking on the publicity that making the additional defamatory statements will give him with his voting base. He is hoping that his re-election will at the very least stall all the proceedings against him, and he may even be able to quash some of them after re-election.
The more forceful he is at his defense, the more his supporters dig in. He doesn’t care about defying the court, because he hopes to make the court irrelevant.
That or he’s hoping one of his supporters will assassinate out of stochasticiam