Donald Trump appeared to be mistaking the woman who accused him of raping her for an ex-wife in a video played to jurors in a civil rape lawsuit against him.
During his October deposition, Trump was shown a black-and-white photo of himself speaking to people at an event.
He said, “It’s Marla,” referring to his second wife Marla Maples, before his attorney corrected him by saying, “No, that’s Carroll.”
Writer E. Jean Carroll, 79, she claims that Mr. Trump raped her in a department store locker room in Manhattan in the mid-1990s, and then tarnished his reputation by lying about it online, which he denies.
Ms. Carroll’s lawyers said the episode, made public in January, undermines Trump’s argument that she wasn’t his type.
The front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said he could not have raped Ms. Carroll, because she’s “not my type” and called the case politically motivated.
Ms. Carroll, a former advice columnist for Elle magazine, is seeking unspecified damages.
On Thursday, a social media and marketing expert hired by Ms Carroll told jurors the cost of repairing the reputational damage of Trump’s statements could range from $368,000 (£292,000) to $2.8m (£2.2m). ).
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Trump: ‘You are a fake!’
Trump will “probably participate” in the trial
Mr. Trump, 76, will not testify at trial and has not been in the Manhattan courtroom so far.
But Thursday, he said he will “probably attend” the trial when asked by Sky News.
Speaking at his Trump Doonbeg resort in Ireland’s County Clare, he said: ‘I will probably attend [the trial] and I think it’s a shame that false accusations are allowed against a rich kid, or in my case against a famous, rich, political person.”
Donald Trump and Marla Maples in 1991. Photo: AP
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan warned last week that Mr. Trump could face more legal trouble if he continues to argue the case.
Ms Carroll said that after meeting Mr Trump at the Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan, they teased each other to try on a piece of lingerie.
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Donald Trump being greeted by hat-waving workers
She claimed they ended up alone together in a locker room, where Mr. Trump pushed her against a wall and raped her before she pushed him back and fled.
And Jean Carroll arrives at court
Two of Ms. Carroll’s longtime friends testified that she told them about the attack shortly after it occurred and said they believed her.
Since first formulating his allegations in a 2019 memoir, Trump has denied that a rape ever occurred or that he even knew Ms. Carroll.
The trial is expected to take place next week after a day off on Friday.
