For followers of the MeToo movement this should feel like a victorious moment. On Tuesday, a New York jury found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing the writer E Jean Carroll in a department store fitting room 30 years ago, and later defaming her by calling her a liar. The court ordered him to pay $5m in damages.
Carroll is not the only woman who has accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct. Two women testified at the trial that Trump also assaulted them, with one describing what felt like “40 zillion hands” all over her and another crying on the stand as she described an alleged assault at Trump’s Florida mansion in 2005. The women join more than two dozen others who have publicly accused the former president of sexual harassment or assault.
For those who’ve followed Trump’s career over the years, the claims may have sounded familiar. Trump has boasted of sexually assaulting women before, bragging in an Access Hollywood recording that, “I’m automatically attracted to beautiful [women]—I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss, I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything… Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”
When the tape was released during the height of the 2016 US presidential election Trump dismissed his brashness by claiming it was “locker room talk” between guys. During the deposition for the New York trial Trump reiterated his belief that he is a “star” and that historically men who are stars have been able to sexually abuse women. He then dismissed the accusations by claiming he couldn’t have raped or assaulted Carroll because she is “not my type.”
At any other time in American history, a civil lawsuit ordering a powerful man—not to mention a former president of the United States—to pay damages to a woman for sexual assault would have been a sign that nobody was above the law. But in the last five years, other powerful men have been the subjects of sexual assault allegations.
Just five years ago, in 2018, rape survivors endured the sight of Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina banging on a table during the Supreme Court nominee confirmation hearing of Brett Kavanaugh, saying that an innocent man’s life was being ruined because of a superfluous sexual assault claim. That nominee made it to the Supreme Court after a Senate investigation found there was “no evidence” to substantiate claims of sexual assault, joining the bench alongside another justice, Clarence Thomas, who was also accused of sexual misconduct during his own nomination in 1991. Both Thomas and Kavanaugh have always firmly denied the allegations against them.
For many who’ve felt disgusted by Trump’s misogyny, the verdict should finally force the former president’s supporters to admit that he has abused women. But a guilty finding, especially one coming from a court in New York City—which conservatives disparage as “liberal”—will add fuel to the Maga victimhood fire and reinforce Trump supporters’ beliefs that the left is out to get their main man. Some are so convinced of his innocence that it seems only a time machine allowing them to personally witness the assault would be enough to convince them that it took place.
The reason for Trump’s unconditional support from his base is simple. The former president champions outdated gender roles that many on the far-right admire. A 2020 study found that even after controlling for race, partisanship and education levels, individuals who have a “traditional” idea of gender identities hold significantly more conservative views than others. Trump had a 65 per cent approval rating among men who identified as “completely masculine”. Among other male voters, the rating was statistically indistinguishable from that of women. Trump’s dismissal of Carroll as “not my type” also reinforces the idea that women exist only to please men—in this narrative he couldn’t have assaulted her because he says he didn’t find her physically attractive, an excuse few experts on sexual violence would find convincing. Female Trump supporters often look on women who claim they have been sexually assaulted not as victims, but as troublemakers, screaming harpies who dared to step a toe out of line of what is expected of them and their gender.
Trump’s legal troubles aren’t over. In March, he was indicted for federal campaign violations, and he could soon face charges in Georgia for election tampering. But instead of these events depressing his popularity ratings, Trump is soaring in the polls. An ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 38 per cent of respondents would definitely or probably vote for Biden while 44 per cent would vote for Trump. For the moment it looks as though the damage to Trump’s reputation is only adding momentum to his campaign.
E. Jean Carroll is not a unique case. She is one of many women who have claimed Trump sexually assaulted them, and she represents many more women who have been sexually assaulted by other powerful men who are protected from the consequences of their actions by their wealth and power. Carroll smiled when she left the court—to her, the result may feel like a win. But to other women, who in their day-to-day lives will overhear Trump supporters casually dismiss the trial’s outcome as lies, the verdict may not feel that way. It tells them that even if they are brave enough to come forward, and even if they are believed, the offences committed against them may seem, to some, unimportant. The career and reputation of their abuser may remain intact.
