Trump assails women who accused him of misconduct, days before his debate with Harris

Shortly after appearing in court for an appeal of a decision that found him liable for sexual abuse, Donald Trump stepped Friday in front of television cameras and brought up a string of past allegations of other acts of sexual misconduct, potentially reminding voters of incidents that were little-known or forgotten.

The former president has made hitting back at opponents and accusers a centrepiece of his political identity, but his performance at his namesake Manhattan office tower was startling even by Trump’s own combative standards. At times he seemed to relish using graphic language and characterizations of the case, which could expose the former president to further legal challenges.

His remarks came just four days before Trump will debate Vice-President Kamala Harris, with early voting about to begin in some parts of the country and Election Day just two months away.

Trump is staying in the public eye while Harris prepares for the debate in private with her advisers in Pittsburgh. That’s a reflection of their divergent campaign styles, with Trump frequently engaging with reporters — albeit often in friendly settings — while Harris has done just one interview and no news conferences since taking U.S. President Joe Biden’s place atop the Democratic ticket.

Trump on Friday repeatedly brought up Harris’s lack of news conferences. But his own comments — in which he talked about the cases against him for more than half an hour without mentioning any campaign issues — threatened to cause him more legal jeopardy. And after convening reporters for what his campaign said was a news conference, Trump walked off without taking any questions.

A jury returned a US$5 million verdict finding Trump liable of sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996. His legal team made its appeal arguments Friday morning.

Juries now have twice now awarded Carroll huge sums for Trump’s claiming she made up a story about him attacking her in a department store dressing room in 1996 to help her sell a memoir.

But that hasn’t stopped Trump from continuing to make nearly identical statements to reporters. At his news briefing Friday, he said again that Carroll was telling a “made up, fabricated story.”

Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, warned in March after a jury awarded Carroll another US$83 million that she would continue to monitor Trump’s comments and would consider suing again if he kept it up.

Earlier in court, he walked in quietly and passed in front of Carroll without acknowledging or looking at her.

The former president reacted at times during the proceedings, such as shaking his head when Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, said that Trump sexually abused her client. He would tilt his head from side to side periodically, but otherwise sat still and mostly alone.

A Manhattan jury in May found Trump responsible for sexual abuse. Carroll says Trump attacked her in a department store dressing room, but the former president’s legal team says the verdict should be overturned because some evidence that was allowed during the trial should have been excluded while other evidence that should be excluded was allowed. He denies guilt.

In the midst of running for president and facing a series of other legal cases against him, Trump did not attend the Carroll trial and wasn’t there when the charges were read — though he assailed the verdict as “a disgrace” on his social media site.

Later Friday, he’s travelling to Charlotte, N.C., to address the Fraternal Order of Police.

Carroll was one of more than a dozen women who have accused Trump of sexual assault or harassment. She went public in a 2019 memoir. Trump denied it, saying he never encountered Carroll at the store and did not know her. He has called her a “nut job” who invented her story to sell a memoir.

Trump faces unprecedented criminal and civil jeopardy for a major-party nominee.

He has separately been convicted on 34 felony counts in a New York state case related to hush money payments allegedly made to a porn actor. The judge in that case is expected to decide Friday whether to postpone Trump’s sentencing.

Trump has also been ordered to pay steep civil fines for lying about his wealth for years.

And he’s still contending with cases alleging his mishandling of classified documents, his actions after the 2020 election and his activities during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — though none are likely to go to trial prior to Election Day.