Donald Trump, the former US president, has been slapped with a massive $83.3m fine for slandering E Jean Carroll, a writer who accused him of raping her in the 1990s. A civil fraud trial had already found that Carroll was sexually assaulted by Trump, who was then a real estate mogul.
The fine was imposed for comments Trump made in 2019, when he was still in office. He called Carroll a liar and said she was not his type, which a judge ruled was defamatory.
Trump was furious with the verdict and stormed out of the courtroom, muttering “this is not America”. He had only testified for less than three minutes in the case, and said he was there to “defend the presidency”.
A lawyer for Trump argued that Carroll did not deserve any compensation, as she had “enjoyed the attention” and suffered no harm from being called a liar. But Carroll’s lawyer said the case was also about “punishing Donald Trump” and “getting him to stop once and for all”.
Trump later posted on his social media account Truth, saying he disagreed with both verdicts and would appeal the “Biden Directed Witch Hunt” against him and the Republican Party.
He said the legal system was “out of control” and being used as a “political weapon”. He said his First Amendment rights had been taken away. He said “THIS IS NOT AMERICA!”
Trump has often claimed that the Democrats, Joe Biden’s party, are behind the numerous legal cases he faces. He is currently facing four criminal cases for a total of 91 felony counts. He is the first president in US history to be charged with a crime.
He recently won the New Hampshire primary, and is likely to be the Republican presidential nominee. He will face Biden again in the November 2024 election, the first time this has happened since 1956.