No, the verdict did not amount to total vindication. But for E Jean Carroll and for the more than two dozen other women who, over many years, have accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct, it came close.
Finally – finally – this oft-accused predator would be held accountable for at least some fraction of his misdeeds.
Not for rape, which is what Carroll testified happened in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room 27 years ago, but for sexual assault and for defamation – and for $5m.
No, it’s not enough. Not enough for wrecking this particular woman’s ability to live a trauma-free life. Not enough for causing immeasurable harm to so many others.
But enough so that Trump can be portrayed as a sexual abuser.
The New York jury’s decision certainly didn’t take long. It was just a couple of hours for the mostly male panel to come back with its decision.
So quick, in fact, that the three women and six men seemed to have their minds made up by the time they entered deliberations.
“I think that jurors just sat around and said how long do we need to sit here to make it look like there was something to consider and we considered it,” observed Kim Masters, editor at large at the Hollywood Reporter.
As the trial’s closing arguments concluded this week, I found myself thinking of the quip attributed to Groucho Marx (sometimes slightly misquoted): “Who are you going to believe – me or your own eyes?”
In this case, the question was “Who are you going to believe – a proven congenital liar or a 79-year-old, beloved advice columnist who offered significant corroboration for her version of events?”
The jury chose to believe E Jean Carroll – not fully, but they chose to believe her. They (probably) didn’t even know that Trump was lying about the trial only hours before, when he falsely claimed on social media that he never had a chance to speak on his own behalf. Of course, he had had every chance to do so.
That the verdict happened just one day before CNN’s scheduled (and much criticized) “town hall” with Trump – who has declared his Republican candidacy for round two of the worst presidency in modern American history – makes the news network’s decision to hold the live event even more dubious.
I believe in covering all political candidates rigorously, but airing Trump live like this is a terrible idea. Blasting out the former president’s inevitable lies to the world in real time may be a good way to juice CNN’s troubled ratings but it is not a good way to serve democracy. Not even the most skilled moderator or interviewer can withstand the Trumpian barrage.
Now, in addition to lying about the 2020 election – a sure thing – he’ll have another subject to expound upon, portraying himself, once again, as a victim.
“Congratulations to Chris Licht,” wrote Marcy Wheeler, whose Twitter handle is @emptywheel, sarcastically tipping her hat to the cable network’s chairman and CEO, “whose shrewd scheduling will tie CNN’s brand to Trump’s sexual assault.”
Others were taking bets on whether Trump would even show up for the town hall given Tuesday’s verdict, but, as usual, he didn’t seem cowed. He showed no hesitation – or heaven forbid, self-reflection. Instead, he said he would appeal and trashed the verdict as “a disgrace – a continuation of the greatest witch-hunt of all time.”
I met Carroll a year or so ago at the home of our mutual friend, Molly Jong-Fast, and found her to be effervescent and charming. As others have noted, though, that bright public-facing facade doesn’t take away from the fact that she’s suffered.
So have multitudes of women whom Trump has never touched.
After all, “misogyny, like racism, thrives when it has a cheerleader,” Jong-Fast wrote in Vanity Fair, “when it has someone who gives his supporters permission to engage in it.” Trump has certainly played that role to the hilt.
When Trump famously bragged that a charismatic star – as he sees himself – can “grab ’em by the pussy”, he suggested that he could always get away with it.
As he sees it, stardom came with a side order of impunity. Finally, that disgusting meal is over.
Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist
