While most Republican presidential candidates are willing to acknowledge the blatant abuse of the legal system to attack Donald Trump, Nikki Haley has decided to go a different route in the wake of a jury awarding a ridiculous $83 million in damages to E. Jean Carroll for alleged defamation after she made dubious (and most likely false) allegations that he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s.
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The jury arrived at a verdict that granted $18.3 million in compensatory damages and an even more absurd $65 million in punitive damages. A sociologist provided testimony during the proceedings, claiming the damage to Carroll’s reputation caused by Trump’s comments to be within the range of $7.2 million and $12.1 million.
“Absolutely ridiculous! I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!”
Rather than blasting the absurdity of the jury’s actions, Haley decided to use the situation to attack Trump.
“Donald Trump wants to be the presumptive Republican nominee and we’re talking about $83 million in damages. We’re not talking about fixing the border. We’re not talking about tackling inflation,” she said in a post on X/Twitter. “America can do better than Donald Trump and Joe Biden.”
Related: Need More Proof That Joe Biden Knows He’s Going To Lose in November? Here It Is.
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Legitimate questions have been raised about the veracity of E. Jean Carroll’s accusations, particularly questions about her ability to provide such sharp detail about the alleged incident despite not being able to remember other important details that would support her allegations—like the date it occurred. It’s also been pointed out that Carroll’s accusations are suspiciously similar to a plot from a television show. Literally. Carroll’s claims allege the same crime at the same store, in the same location in the store.
“Ms. Carroll’s story resembles a plot line from a Law and Order SVU episode about rape in the Lingerie Department at Bergdoff Goodman,” PJ Media’s Greg Byrnes wrote last year. “Memory contamination is one of the classic problems with eyewitness testimony. Even telling your story to others, as Carroll claims she did, can contaminate it. It is a human instinct to conform the story you are telling to what your listeners expect to hear. And over time, details creep in to make it fit even more neatly.”
Indeed, Carroll had no explanation for the similarities.
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“An amazing coincidence?” Trump’s lawyer asked Carroll.
“Yes, it’s astonishing,” she replied.
Carroll even admitted to being a fan of “Law & Order,” though she claimed to not watch the spinoff because of the violence.
Okay, sure.
Trump’s lead in the GOP primary polls has only gotten larger since Ron DeSantis and others dropped out. Haley’s only chance to close that gap is to win over Trump voters. It’s clear to anyone that E. Jean Carrol’s efforts are part of a much larger politically motivated scheme to attack Trump, and legitimizing these efforts won’t win Nikki Haley any new votes.