Donald Trump was a two-time loser on Friday.
First, the former president was ordered by a jury to pay writer E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million for damages from defamation, and then he had to suffer the slings and arrows of snarky social media users.
Carroll, a longtime advice columnist, has alleged that she was raped by Trump in 1996 in a dressing room at Manhattan’s Bergdorf Goodman department store.
After she wrote about the experience in 2019, Trump called her a “whack job” and a “fraud,” inspiring her to sue for defamation. That resulted in Trump being found liable for defaming and for sexually abusing Carroll (though not raping her). He was also ordered to pay her $5 million in damages.
Still, that first penalty did not stop Trump from defaming Carroll, which led her to sue him again and Friday’s massive judgment.
Many people on X, formerly Twitter, used the verdict as an excuse for a popular social media activity: busting Trump’s chops.
E Jean Caroll just grabbed Trump by the checkbook.#TrumpIsALoser
— Katie Porters Whiteboard (@Amy0227) January 26, 2024
Donald Trump has two hobbies these days. The first is lying. The second is getting his ass beat by E. Jean Carroll in court.
— Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) January 26, 2024
Man, imagine getting paid $3.5M and your client ending up with an $83M verdict.
Yikes. Not a great return-of-investment in having Habba as your attorney.— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) January 26, 2024
Much more important than the 83 million dollar verdict is the recognition from a member of the U.S. judiciary that Trump and his supporters remain a violent threat to ordinary Americans. https://t.co/928xs61QMZ
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) January 26, 2024
#Trump has to look at the bright side of this verdict….
It could have been $84 million!!
— Desert Author (@Desert_Author) January 26, 2024
Welp! And he defamed her AGAIN while the jury was deliberating. If I was @ejeancarroll I’d take that imp right back to court. She alone could bankrupt that criminal and save all of us from his desired dictatorship. He just can’t stop himself. https://t.co/uyiEodZ57x
— yvette nicole brown (@YNB) January 26, 2024
Trump to voters. They’ve come after me for $83.3 million. If it happened to me it could happen to you.
— Karl Rosenfeld (@kneerecon) January 26, 2024