A young E. Jean Carroll, Columnist - BillBoggs.com
E. Jean Carroll won her civil lawsuit against Donald Trump for $5 million. She charged Trump with sexual battery and defaming her when he denied the charge. This lawsuit was not the first time victims of Trump’s despicable behavior have held him accountable in civil courts. Trump was successfully sued for $25 million by former students of his seminar program, Trump University. The court agreed with the students that the real estate seminars were so worthless that they constituted fraud. Trump also paid $2 million to settle a case brought by the New York Attorney General for misusing funds raised by his foundation. Trump admitted to using foundation funds to promote his presidential run and pay for some of his real estate business expenses. In December 2022, the Manhattan District Attorney brought a case against Trump’s real estate company, the Trump Organization, for 17 tax-related fraud counts. The jury found Trump’s company guilty and fined it a maximum of $1.6 million.
Despite Trump’s liability in these prior cases, Carroll’s victory was incredibly gratifying for those observers who wanted Trump held accountable for his deplorable and corrupt actions. This suit was against him as an individual with no corporate fig leaf. Carroll and the other 20 women who accused Trump of sexual assault were validated. In the other cases in which Trump has been found liable, the punishment he received for his actions seemed distant from the pain that he caused. Through her courage and persistence, Carroll ensured Trump’s punishment was as personal as the pain he caused.
The pain Trump causes is usually impersonal. Some of Trump’s sexual assaults seemed impersonal to him, even though they were horrendous for the women he targeted. When Trump, laughing and joking, lured Carroll into a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room to sexually assault her, she represented a symbol through which he could prove his power. Trump’s defense was that he did not know that woman; she was not his type. An incident with Kristin Anderson, a woman Trump did not know, occurred in a nightclub. Sitting beside her, Trump touched her vagina through her underwear without speaking. In another instance, Trump sexually assaulted a woman he did not know on an airplane. Jessica Leeds testified in the Carroll trial that when she was seated next to him, Trump kissed her, groped her breast, and tried to put his hand up her skirt. These acts were not to provide him with sexual gratification. They were to increase his sense of power.
Despite Trump’s liability in these prior cases, Carroll’s victory was incredibly gratifying for those observers who wanted Trump held accountable for his deplorable and corrupt actions. This suit was against him as an individual with no corporate fig leaf. Carroll and the other 20 women who accused Trump of sexual assault were validated. In the other cases in which Trump has been found liable, the punishment he received for his actions seemed distant from the pain that he caused. Through her courage and persistence, Carroll ensured Trump’s punishment was as personal as the pain he caused.
The pain Trump causes is usually impersonal. Some of Trump’s sexual assaults seemed impersonal to him, even though they were horrendous for the women he targeted. When Trump, laughing and joking, lured Carroll into a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room to sexually assault her, she represented a symbol through which he could prove his power. Trump’s defense was that he did not know that woman; she was not his type. An incident with Kristin Anderson, a woman Trump did not know, occurred in a nightclub. Sitting beside her, Trump touched her vagina through her underwear without speaking. In another instance, Trump sexually assaulted a woman he did not know on an airplane. Jessica Leeds testified in the Carroll trial that when she was seated next to him, Trump kissed her, groped her breast, and tried to put his hand up her skirt. These acts were not to provide him with sexual gratification. They were to increase his sense of power.
Other sexual assaults Trump has been accused of appear to have been intended as preludes to sexual encounters. For example, Summer Zervos, a year after being a contestant on The Apprentice, had approached Trump to see if there were any job opportunities for her. Trump stunned her with open mouth kisses, fondling her breasts, and thrusting his body on hers. Natasha Stoynoff, a reporter, testified that Trump interrupted an interview to push her against a wall and kissed her while Trump’s pregnant wife was in another room dressing.
The Hollywood Access tape makes Trump’s feelings about women clear. In that secretly recorded video, Trump could be heard saying he did not wait to start kissing women because when you are a star, you can do anything you want, including grabbing them by the p---y.
Trump’s impersonal objectification of women combined with his notion that grabbing women is a star’s privilege, a privilege reminiscent of a “counting coup.” Counting coup is the term used to describe a practice of the Plains Indians to show their bravery and ability to overcome an enemy. A warrior, for example, might touch an enemy with his hand in a battle or sneak into an enemy camp and steal a horse or weapons. Escaping unharmed entitled the warrior to some honorific such as wearing an eagle feather or marking a “coup stick.” Assaulting women seems to be Trump’s selfish and nasty way of counting coup. Of course, for Trump counting coup is not about braver or honor. Instead, it is about seizing a worth he does not possess and to which he is not entitled.
Counting coup or exercising a star’s privilege - Trump’s father called it being a killer - provides even more of a window into Trump’s character. It shows that he regards women as objects whose primary purpose is to allow him to display his power. More importantly, this window shows how the impersonal acts of Trumpism will cause pain to others. A pain that an increasing number of women and men understand results from Trumpism.
The Hollywood Access tape makes Trump’s feelings about women clear. In that secretly recorded video, Trump could be heard saying he did not wait to start kissing women because when you are a star, you can do anything you want, including grabbing them by the p---y.
Trump’s impersonal objectification of women combined with his notion that grabbing women is a star’s privilege, a privilege reminiscent of a “counting coup.” Counting coup is the term used to describe a practice of the Plains Indians to show their bravery and ability to overcome an enemy. A warrior, for example, might touch an enemy with his hand in a battle or sneak into an enemy camp and steal a horse or weapons. Escaping unharmed entitled the warrior to some honorific such as wearing an eagle feather or marking a “coup stick.” Assaulting women seems to be Trump’s selfish and nasty way of counting coup. Of course, for Trump counting coup is not about braver or honor. Instead, it is about seizing a worth he does not possess and to which he is not entitled.
Counting coup or exercising a star’s privilege - Trump’s father called it being a killer - provides even more of a window into Trump’s character. It shows that he regards women as objects whose primary purpose is to allow him to display his power. More importantly, this window shows how the impersonal acts of Trumpism will cause pain to others. A pain that an increasing number of women and men understand results from Trumpism.