E Jean Carroll recounts alleged Trump rape in horrifying detail: ‘I’m not a screamer. I’m a fighter’
Former Elle columnist alleges businessman-turned-president assaulted her in the mid-1990s
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Your support makes all the difference.E Jean Carroll, the woman accusing Donald Trump of rape, took the stand in her civil trial against the former president where she recounted the alleged assault in detail.
Ms Carroll testified on Wednesday that she was with Mr Trump at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in the mid-1990s when Mr Trump assaulted her in the dressing room.
The former Elle columnist said she and Mr Trump were shopping around the department store at the time when he asked her to try on a piece of lingerie that he was looking to purchase- a blue bodysuit.
“He was having a good time, and so was I,” Ms Carroll said, adding that the two were harmlessly flirting with one another.
As the two reached the dressing room, Ms Carroll said Mr Trump “shut the door and shoved me up against the wall.”
“I was confused. I laughed,” Ms Carroll said.
She said she pushed Mr Trump back but he “thurst” her into the wall again.
From there, Ms Carroll described how Mr Trump pulled down her tights and inserted his fingers into her vagina.
“It was extremely painful,” Ms Carroll recalled emotionally. “It was a horrible feeling. He put his hand inside me and curled his finger. As I sit here today, I can still feel it.”
When asked if she screamed for help or told Mr Trump to stop, Ms Carroll said, “I’m not a screamer. I’m a fighter.”
Ms Carroll alleges Mr Trump then inserted his penis and began to rape her.
“I wonder why I walked in there, to get in that situation... I’m proud to say I got out of there,” Ms Carroll.
After the assault, Ms Carroll said she left the department store quickly and called her friend, Lisa Birnbach. Later on, Ms Carroll would tell Carol Martin, an anchorwoman at ABC, about the assault, but did not confide in many others.
Ms Carroll said she felt “very stupid” for going into the dressing room. She described how the alleged rape left her “unable to ever have a romantic life again.”
Later on, Ms Carroll elaborated on her inability to form and maintain romantic relationships saying that because she was allegedly raped by Mr Trump after flirting with him, it hindered her ability to engage with men.
Ms Carroll revealed she has not had sexual intercourse since the assault, which occurred when she was 52 years old.
“I have lost out on one of the glorious experiences of any human being - being in love with another human being, cuddling and eating popcorn, cooking dinner, walking the dog. I feel I should be able to overcome it,” Ms Carroll said.
The former columnist said she felt so ashamed about the assault that she did not seek medical attention or tell the police.
Ms Carroll says she was warned by Ms Martin that Mr Trump had “200 lawyers” and would “bury” her if she tried to come forward about the allegations.
“I was afraid of Donald Trump, that he would retaliate,” Ms Carroll said.
As Mr Trump became more powerful, and eventually the president, Ms Carroll described how seeing him “everywhere” forced her to be strong against her triggers.
Though Ms Carroll said she kept the alleged incident a secret most of her life, she revealed it in her 2019 memoir What Do We Need Men For?
Mr Trump denies all the allegations Ms Carroll has brought against him.
Ms Carroll is suing Mr Trump for battery in New York under the Adult Survivors Act, which gives sexual abuse victims a one-year window to sue attackers for assaults that took place years ago.