In 2024, Donald Trump was not only facing four criminal indictments, but also, a range of civil lawsuits — including those from former Elle Magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll, who alleged that Trump tried to force himself on her in a Manhattan department store in the late 1990s.
Carroll’s allegations never led to criminal charges, but she won some massive civil judgements. Trump angrily denied those allegations, claiming she was “not my type.”
Carroll discusses those allegations in her new book, “Not My Type: One Woman vs. a President,” which The New Republic’s Nina Burleigh examines in an interview with her published on July 7.
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“Her new book ‘Not My Type,’ about suing and beating Trump in court is, from title to last page, an admirable act of subversion, casting the female gaze back at the bubble of pomposity and arrogance and entitlement around one man and his team and their processes, reducing the narcissist to his insecure essence,” Burleigh explains. “This book is full of mischief; it’s also erudite and serious…. In practice for court testimony, her lawyers showed her some of the hundreds of death threats posted to her on Facebook — evidence they planned to enter into the second defamation trial — and asked her how they made her ‘feel.’”
Burleigh adds, “Carroll couldn’t think of any words as she reread posts like ‘i will r— u, e jean carroll’ and ‘I’m so very sorry; my friend wants to kill you and I cannot stop him. Rest in peace c—.’”
During the interview, Carroll discussed Trump’s lawyers — including Joe Tacopina and Alina Habba.
Carroll told Burleigh, “Tacopina was way too good for this case. But he followed Trump’s orders and he lost. Trump hired him because he beats up on Black women. Because he beats up on grandmas. As with the Stormy Daniels case, Trump hires lawyers to say what he wants. Tacopina probably would have lost that too.”
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Carroll described Habba as “deliciously arrogant,” adding, “Didn’t know a f—— thing about the law. Didn’t know diddly squat. And yet, she is vice president of his PAC. She got to help get him elected because she’s overwhelming, confident. We can learn. Why should we be frightened? We’re smarter. We’re richer. We have a vastly different experience, deeper experience. We’re just going to wake up, get off our lazy a—-.”
Five and one-half months into Trump’s second presidency, Carroll warns against underestimating him.
“It drives me crazy when I hear liberals say (Trump’s) just stupid,” Carroll told Burleigh. “He’s not stupid. He’s one of the smartest people of his generation. He now controls the United States of America. Never underestimate Donald Trump.”
Carroll continued, “I knew enough to be able to be an old woman and beat him twice. But I cannot see into the future.”
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Nina Burleigh’s full interview with E. Jean Carroll is available at this link.