10/05/2023
The authoritarian right wing former President of the United States, Donald Trump, has been ordered to pay some five million dollars to the writer E Jean Caroll, for sexual assault. NBC Television News reports that the jury in New York found Trump not guilty of rape, but did find that he had sexually abused Ms Caroll in the middle nineteen nineties. The six men and three women on the jury also found Trump had defamed Carroll by calling her claims a “hoax” and a “con job.” The jury deliberated for only about three hours. It awarded Carroll just over $2 million on the battery claim and just under $3 million on the defamation claims. Trump's fanatical followers however, showed their contempt for the due process and rule of law, by repeating lies about Ms Caroll and claiming that Trump would be elected again in 2024. However, there are Republicans who do value democracy and rule of impartial law. Republican presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson, a Trump critic, said, "The jury verdict should be treated with seriousness and is another example of the indefensible behaviour of Donald Trump."
