E. Jean Carroll and Roberta Kaplan on Defamatory Trump, and Dexter Filkins on Ron DeSantis

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Arts, News, Wnyc, Books, David, Storytelling, Society & Culture, Yorker, New, Remnick

4.2 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 26 May 2023

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Earlier this month, E Jean Carroll won an unprecedented legal victory: in a civil suit, Donald Trump was found liable for sexual abuse against her in the mid-nineteen-nineties, and for defamation in later accusing her of a hoax. But no sooner was that decision announced than Trump reiterated his defamatory insults against her in a controversial CNN interview. Carroll has now filed an amended complaint, in a separate suit, based on Trump’s continued barrage. But can anything make him stop? “The one thing he understands is money,” Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, tells David Remnick. “At some point he’ll understand that every time he does it, it’s going to cost him a few million dollars. And that may make a difference.” Carroll acknowledges that Trump will keep attacking her to get a laugh—“a lot of people don’t like women,” she says simply—but she is undaunted, telling Remnick, “I hate to be all positive about this, but I think we’ve made a difference, I really do.” Plus, the staff writer Dexter Filkins on Ron DeSantis, who finally announced his Presidential candidacy this week. In 2022, Filkins profiled the Florida governor as his national ambitions were becoming clear. “He’s very good at staking out a position and pounding the table,” Filkins notes, “saying, ‘I’m not giving in to the liberals in the Northeast.’ ”

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
0:12.4	Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick.
0:16.7	Earlier this month, E. Jean Carroll won an unprecedented legal victory.
0:22.2	In a civil suit, Donald Trump was found liable for sexual abuse against her in the mid-90s
0:27.5	and for defamation in accusing her of trying to pull off a hoax.
0:33.2	But no sooner was that decision announced that the former president turned around and repeated his attack,
0:39.3	using the same sort of defamatory insults that we've heard and grown so used to over the years.
0:45.8	And he played it for laughs in his recent live interview on CNN.
0:50.9	What kind of a woman meets somebody and brings them up, and within minutes, you're playing hanky-panky in a dressing room?
0:59.8	E. Jean Carroll has now filed an amended complaint based on Trump's continued statements about the case.
1:06.8	I spoke with Carol along with her attorney Roberta Kaplan, who was known for her work on sexual
1:11.9	violence. So on May 9th, Donald Trump was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation in your suit
1:21.3	against him. And not a day later, in Trump's inimitable fashion, he called you a whack job, and he made fun of you
1:29.0	about what had happened to you during a CNN town hall broadcast around the world.
1:34.8	Tell me about watching that or experiencing that and what you felt.
1:42.7	Well, David, the happiest day of my life was on May 9th.
1:50.2	Robbie and I stood in that courtroom and heard nine jurors respond that we had been telling the truth. And the moment of joy was so incredible. It was like a new
2:07.4	world had opened up to me. And I think Robbie sort of felt the same. We were both just ascending.
2:19.1	We have a great evening.
2:21.1	We walk back into the office.
2:23.7	Champagne is flying.
2:25.7	Music is playing.
	...

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