

E. Jean Carroll says she faced endless internet hate barrage after Trump’s denials of her rape claim

E. Jean Carroll E. testified Thursday it was hard for her to “get up in the morning” and face the endless barrage of online hate over her rape claims against former President Donald Trump.
In her second day on the witness stand in a civil rape trial against Trump in Manhattan federal court, Carroll described “a wave of slime, very seedy comments, very denigrating, almost an endless stream of people repeating what Donald Trump said — that I was a liar, I was in it for the money, I can’t wait for the pay out.”
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Trump has not been present for any day of trial.
“But the main thing was it’s very hard to get up in the morning and face the fact you are receiving these messages — that I was too ugly, too ugly to go on living,” she testified.
Carroll is suing the 45th president for allegedly raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman fitting room in 1996 and then defaming her by denying the accusations, claiming not to know her and saying she wasn’t his “type.”
Carroll first sued the president in 2019 for calling her a “liar” and other denials in June that year after New York Magazine published an excerpt of her memoir laying out the alleged attack.
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The former Elle Magazine “Ask E. Jean” columnist said she got scores of insulting messages online following Trump’s public statements. They subsided until Trump came out against her again in October 2022, she said.
Trump’s remarks derailed Carroll’s attempt to rebuild her career by publishing her column independently on Substack.com after her firing from Elle after more than 20 years — and the loss of eight million readers, she said.
“Just when I had managed to get my Substack up and running and had managed to get my career back…Donald Trump posted on social media every single thing that I was suing him for,” Carroll said.
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The jury is charged with deciding whether Trump should be liable for defaming her with the October statements and whether he should be held liable for the alleged assault.
Jurors were shown a handful of examples of vicious tweets directed at Carroll.
“If this chick got laid by Trump, it was likely the last time she was,” one tweet said.
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Carroll, 79, testified on Wednesday about how she hasn’t had a romantic relationship and hasn’t had sex since the rape, some 27 years ago, because of the trauma from the experience.
The writer said she still gets that kind online vitriol.
“This morning, for instance, I thought I would just take a peek,” Carroll said, noting she usually tries to avoid online messages. “And there it was again, the onslaught of ‘liar,’ ‘slut,’ ‘ugly,’ ‘old.'”
“It’s not a great way to start the day,” she testified.
“But I couldn’t be more proud to be here,” she added, as her voice began to break with emotion.
Carroll said she regrets speaking out about what happened, “About five times a day.”
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“It doesn’t feel pleasant to be under threat,” she said. On Wednesday, Carroll told jurors she had received roughly 10 violent threats.
Carroll said during both days on the stand she wanted to restore her reputation as a journalist.
“It’s not about the money, it’s about getting my name back,” Carroll said Thursday.
After Carroll’s lawyer finished questioning her, Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina began his cross-examination of his client’s accuser.
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Tacopina brought up Carroll’s book, “What Do We Need Men For?” and asked her whether that was where she told her “version” of being raped.
“Those are the facts,” Carroll snapped back.
During opening remarks Tuesday, Tacopina told jurors Carroll made up her accusations against Trump to help boost the sales of her book.
“It was only when you were trying to get a publisher and get money to sell your book did the story come out for the first time,” Tacopina said.
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But Carroll denied that scenario, saying she finally decided to come forward with her story in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct scandal and the subsequent #MeToo movement.
“Across the country, women began telling their stories,” Carroll explained. “I thought the light dawned. I thought we can actually change things if we all tell our stories. I thought alright this might be our time.”
Carroll’s testimony was to continue Thursday afternoon.