Donald Trump's lawyer in the civil case over rape allegations took aim at the accuser Monday, lambasting her for her "fabulous" lifestyle and social media posts made years ago in which she admitted to being a fan of “The Apprentice,” NBC News reports.
Joe Tacopina, during questioning of E. Jean Carroll in a Manhattan courtroom, asked about the Facebook posts in which E. Jean Carroll described herself as a “massive” fan of the television show Trump hosted before he was president.
Carroll is suing Trump for defamation for describing her 2019 rape allegation against him as a “hoax.”
"I was a big fan of the show. Very impressed by it," Carroll said.
"I had never seen such a witty competition on TV, and it was about something worthwhile, competing," she said, noting that she didn’t watch the parts of the show in which Trump was seen firing people.
She said she promoted the show in her posts because two friends had appeared on it.
Carroll’s lawsuit claims that Trump’s public comments about her rape allegations caused her "emotional pain and suffering at the hands of the man who raped her, as well as injury to her reputation, honor, and dignity."
Asked why she encouraged women who were victims of sexual assault to report such incidents to authorities in her Elle magazine advice column years before the alleged assault while she herself did not do so, she said she was shaped by her upbringing in a different era.
"I was born in 1943," Carroll said.
"Women like us were taught to keep our chins up and never complain. I would rather do anything than to call the police."
In response to comments from Tacopina who said her life "has been fabulous," she said "I like my life. I say it quite a bit."
"I put up a front," she added. "I don’t want people to know I suffer. I would be ashamed if people know what’s actually going on."
Carroll, during cross-examination, admitted to a 2012 social media post in which she asked if anyone would have sex with Trump for $17,000 and keep their eyes closed.
“I made several jokes about Donald Trump,” she said.
She also acknowledged that she continues shopping at Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan, where the alleged incident occurred.
Tacopina asked her why she didn’t sue Les Moonves, a former CBS CEO who she also accused of sexually assaulting her.
"He just denied it," Carroll said of Moonves. "He didn't call me names and grind my face through the mud like Donald Trump did."
