Do Republicans not have a problem with sexual assault? Judging by their uncritical reaction to a Manhattan jury’s finding that Donald Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll – not to mention abuse allegations from more than a dozen other women – it’s a legitimate ask.
Being found to be a sexual predator would normally be enough to disqualify a holder of political office or a candidate for such. Usually, it takes less. Many American politicians were sidelined by sexual harassment charges in the wake of the #MeToo movement, a prime example being former Minnesota senator Al Franken.
Gary Hart, a leading candidate for the Democratic Party nomination in 1988, saw his campaign torpedoed not on account of sexual abuse charges but because of an extramarital dalliance he tried to cover up. President Bill Clinton was impeached by Republicans on charges related to his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
But there will be no pressure on Mr. Trump to abandon his run for the Grand Old Party nomination as a result of the Carroll verdict. Most political handicappers don’t even think it will cost him much support. This is the candidate who kicked off his 2016 presidential bid by calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals. As well as now being found to be a sexual abuser himself (though he was not found guilty on the rape charge) he’s also facing a 34-count felony indictment in New York.
The extent of the Republicans’ moral bankruptcy was readily apparent after the Carroll verdict came in. Ronna McDaniel, the GOP National Committee chair, wouldn’t say a negative word. When asked about the verdict, she changed the subject to immigration and inflation.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio gave a succinct assessment: “That jury’s a joke. The whole case is a joke.” One lower-tier candidate for the 2024 nomination, Yale law school graduate Vivek Ramaswamy, defended Mr. Trump with a polysyllabic outpouring. Of the verdict, he opined: ”This seems like just another part of the establishment’s anaphylactic response against its chief political allergen. Donald Trump.” Americans, he said, shouldn’t “weaponize the law with decades-old allegations to undercut our political opponents.”
The only GOP candidate to issue a rebuke of Mr. Trump was another long-shot, former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson.
Of course, it’s not only sexual abuse that so many Republicans don’t seem to mind. The New York criminal indictments have actually seen Mr. Trump’s lead in the GOP nomination battle increase. His role in inciting the Jan. 6 riots on the U.S. Capitol hasn’t hurt him much either, nor has his starting a baseless election-denier movement.
How sick is his party? You get tired counting the ways.
What was striking about the Carroll case, as legal experts have noted, is the degree to which the former president played into the prosecution’s hands, contradicting himself, alienating jury members and issuing vile attacks on Ms. Carroll, which resulted in a defamation finding as well as the one for sexual abuse.
For someone who has been involved in countless lawsuits, how could he have been so senseless as to engage in the latter, calling Ms. Carroll “mentally sick” and other epithets?
Mr. Trump claimed that he had never met Ms. Carroll and maintained that she is not his “type.” But his deposition made the claim look foolish. When shown a photo, Mr. Trump identified Ms. Carroll as Marla Maples, his second wife, whom he obviously had found attractive.
Mr. Trump also refused to show up in court, which, for someone of such bluster and bravado, made him look cowardly. In closing arguments, Ms. Carroll’s attorney Michael Ferrara pointedly told the jury, “He never looked you in the eye and denied raping Ms. Carroll.”
But given his recklessness and his record as a congenital liar, Mr. Trump was probably well-advised not to appear. Cross-examiners would have had a field day.
Not being found culpable on the rape charge was of some solace to him and his defenders, and he is appealing the sexual abuse finding.
While it should have been previously evident that Mr. Trump is a sexual predator, given the other women’s allegations and the infamous Access Hollywood tape, the difference this time is that the charge now has the imprimatur of a court of law.
In the space of a month, Mr. Trump has suffered two hard legal reckonings and more are likely on the way. The question is, how much more can Republicans possibly accept from this man?
A party with any self-respect would disown him.