Donald Trump may soon carry title of 'rapist'

Donald Trump may soon have another 'title' added to his name, that of a rapist. This week, former advice columnist and author E Jean Carroll will finally get her chance to speak in court about the alleged ordeal she had to bear at the hands of the former US president.

Carroll sued Trump under a recent New York state law that opened a one-year window for adult victims of sexual assault. It allows them to file civil cases after the expiry of the statute of limitations. She alleges that sometime in late 1995 or early 1996, Trump sexually assaulted her in a New York department store.

As per the Guardian, jury selection for the case is set to begin in a Manhattan court on Tuesday.

The former columnist claims that Trump raped her in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman, a New York department store. She claims that she was shopping in the store when Trump recognised her and asked her for help in choosing a present for a woman.

The businessman then led her to the lingerie section, where he "grabbed up from the counter a little see-through bodysuit and told me to go try it on," said Carroll.

"And that’s where I got into trouble, because we went into the dressing room and he closed the door and that was it."

As per the lawsuit, Trump initially pinned Carroll against the wall and forcibly kissed her, but "then he pressed her against the wall once more, pulled down her tights, and forcibly raped her for several minutes until she managed to push him off and fled the store."

Carroll claims that following the ordeal she did not file a police complaint because she "was in shock and did not wish to think of herself as a rape victim."

However, in the following days, she confided in two friends: Lisa Birnbach and Carol Martin. Both of them have corroborated Carroll's account and will do so when they testify during the trial.

As per the complaint, Carroll chose to forego going to the police because one of her friends "stressed that Mr Trump was powerful and would ‘bury’ Ms Carroll if she came forward."

However, when the businessman was elected President and the #MeToo movement gained traction, she chose to break her silence. She even wrote a book, 'What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal,' detailing different kinds of abuses by a number of men, including Trump.

In 2019, she also filed a defamation case against Trump denying her accusations, saying she was lying and was only trying to sell her book that should "should be sold in the fiction section."

Trump, however, denies the allegations and claims he has never met the author, although a picture of them along with their spouses exists.

^{From left to right: Donald Trump, E. Jean Carroll, Carroll's then-husband, John Johnson, and Trump's then-wife, Ivana Trump, at a celebrity event in 1987. (Image: Wikipedia)}

He calls Carroll's allegations "a complete con job" and "a Hoax and a lie."Trump also said that "while I am not supposed to say it, I will. This woman is not my type!"

His team is expected to accuse Caroll of a politically motivated attack. This case comes as Trump recently faced the court over another case in which criminal charges were slapped against him.

However, Trump says he will not attend the hearing because he doesn't want to disrupt New York traffic with his motorcade.

(With inputs from agencies)

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