--- title: Trump Uses CNN Town Hall to Ridicule E. Jean Carroll description: A day after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll, Donald Trump used a CNN Town Hall to mercilessly mock her. canonical: https://time.com/6278917/trump-cnn-e-jean-carroll/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-05-11T01:50:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T12:42:45.270Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Uses CNN Town Hall to Mock E. Jean Carroll og:description: A day after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll, Donald Trump used a CNN Town Hall to mercilessly mock her and her allegations og:url: https://time.com/6278917/trump-cnn-e-jean-carroll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ce218905e4ec768/698a3cc709208f21c441a576/GettyImages-1244594041.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Former President Trump Holds Rally In Support Of Ohio Senate Candidate JD Vance og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Uses CNN Town Hall to Mock E. Jean Carroll twitter:description: A day after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll, Donald Trump used a CNN Town Hall to mercilessly mock her and her allegations twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ce218905e4ec768/698a3cc709208f21c441a576/GettyImages-1244594041.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Uses CNN Town Hall to Mock E. Jean Carroll After a Jury Found Him Liable For Sexually Abusing Her > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is the senior White House correspondent at TIME. May 11, 2023 1:50 AM UTC  Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Dayton International Airport on November 7, 2022 in Vandalia, Ohio Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Dayton International Airport on November 7, 2022 in Vandalia, Ohio Drew Angerer—Getty Images  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is the senior White House correspondent at TIME. May 11, 2023 1:50 AM UTC A day after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll, Donald Trump used a CNN Town Hall to mercilessly mock her and her allegations “She was a wack job,” Trump said during the live event. The former President ridiculed Carroll’s account of their meeting in a Manhattan apartment store. “What kind of a woman meets somebody and brings them up and within minutes you’re playing hanky panky in a dressing room?” Trump said. “This is a fake story.” A jury in New York City on Tuesday found Trump [liable for sexual abuse and defaming Carroll](https://time.com/6278559/trump-e-jean-carroll-verdict-impact-nothing-matters/) after she went public with her allegations that Trump assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room, and awarded Carroll $5 million for battery and defamation. The jury did not find Carroll proved her allegation that Trump raped her. Trump has denied all of her allegations and said he would appeal the verdict. **Read more**: [_Trump Declines to Rule Out Reviving Family Separations During CNN Town Hall_](https://time.com/6278925/trump-family-separation-border-cnn-town-hall/) Speaking with CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, Trump also doubled down on comments he made during an _Access Hollywood_ film shoot in 2005 in which he justified groping women by saying, “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.” During a deposition for the Carroll trial, Trump appeared to defend those comments. When Collins asked if Trump would take those comments back, he refused. He went on to defend a type of social order where wealthy and famous people get away with doing what they want. “For a million years, this is the way it’s been. I want to be honest, this is the way it’s been,” Trump said. “If you’re a famous person, if you’re a star, and I’m not referring to myself, I’m saying people that are famous, people that are stars, people that are rich, people that are powerful, they tend to do pretty well in a lot of different ways, ok? And you would like me to take that back? I can’t take it back because it happens to be true.” **Read more**: [_Inside Trump’s Strategy to Turn Legal Woes Into a Political Advantage_](https://time.com/6278784/trump-carroll-verdict-campaign-strategy/) That is the way it is, Trump said, “fortunately or unfortunately for her.” Trump said the judge wasn’t fair to him in the trial. Asked what he says to voters to believe the jury verdict that he sexually abused Carroll disqualifies him from being President, Trump said, “Not too many of them because my poll numbers just came out. 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