Donald Trump's 'Bizarre' Rapid Fire Posts About E. Jean Carroll

Former President Donald Trump has unleashed a new social media barrage against his sexual assault accuser, E. Jean Carroll.

Trump was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll, a former columnist for Elle magazine, at the conclusion of a civil trial last May. A second defamation trial against Trump by Carroll is set to begin on January 16 after an appeals court denied a last-second attempt to delay it on Wednesday.

Despite Trump's disparaging social media comments about Carroll being cited as defamation in both suits, the former president unfurled a dizzying array of content focusing on Carroll on Thursday morning, consisting of more than 30 posts to his Truth Social account.

The posts, which were all shared in under an hour, consist largely of old quotes or social media posts from Carroll that were sexual in nature. Trump also shared articles from right-wing news websites that included references to Carroll as "a wackadoodle."

Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing against Carroll and claims that all of his legal difficulties, which include multiple civil suits and 91 felony criminal charges, are part of a "witch hunt" orchestrated by Democrats.

Newsweek reached out to Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, for comment via email on Thursday.

Matthew Barhoma, Los Angeles defense attorney with Power Trial Lawyers, said in a statement to Newsweek that Trump "is playing with fire by sending out a barrage of links that disparage E. Jean Carroll."

"This is especially made worse by the fact that he has a second trial pending against him by Carroll that is due to commence in weeks," Barhoma said. "This information can be used against him in these proceedings. As such, it does not make things easier for him at all."

"Though, not every link is considered defamatory or a violation of prior verdicts," he added. "After all, Trump still has the fundamental right to freedom of expression, and each post will be analyzed on its own accord. Moreover, the links, while reposted by former President Trump, are not indeed his own words."

Former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade told Newsweek that "Trump seems determined to demonstrate to his supporters that he is above the law, and that he will not be deterred even by the risk of another defamation lawsuit."

"He is exposing himself to more claims of defamation," McQuade added. "If I were his lawyer ... I would caution him that additional punitive damages could be imposed against him as punishment for continuing to defame her with impunity."

The former president was quickly slammed by a number of critics on X, formerly Twitter. Some argued that Trump's focus on Carroll's past remarks concerning sex was an attempt to justify alleged rape. Trump has not been convicted of rape, although he was found to be civilly liable for sexual assault in May.

"Misogynistic pig Trump goes on absolutely bizarre and psychopathic posting spree for 20 minutes about E. Jean Carroll," posted Mike Sington, a former NBCUniversal executive. "It looks like he's trying to say because she has posted and talked about sex in the past, it's okay that he raped her."

"If trump continues to defame E Jean Carroll, she can ask for an injunction - a court order prohibiting Donald from continuing his defamation," posted Allison Gill, host of the political podcast Mueller, She Wrote. "If an injunction is violated, jail is a remedy, as are additional fines."

"Trump's threatening E. Jean Carroll today like he wants the case to go from civil... to criminal," X user @TheAstuteGaloot wrote.

"The more he attacks @ejeancarroll, the more money he'll have to pay her," posted @JoJoFromJerz. "Poor manbaby. He just can't help himself."

"Watch out, Donald, because if you think these attacks will intimate @ejeancarroll, you're sorely mistaken & should think again," podcast host and activist Victor Shi wrote. "Not only is she watching, but, as she's shown before, she's not afraid to sue you for even more for defaming her again. We stand with E. Jean."

Trump also had his defenders on X, including some who praised the former president for supposedly "exposing" Carroll.

"EXPOSING JEAN CARROLL AS OBSESSED WITH SEX AND PERVERSION," posted @sxdoc. "Trump Has The Receipts"

"DJT posted messages about E Jean Carroll....the BS case should be dropped immediately!!!" self-proclaimed "Sassy Southern MAGA" @MimiE0417 wrote on X. "A true mental case...we truly are living in a clown world..."

"Truth from the President," @_Bay17d wrote. "@realDonaldTrump is going hard at creepy weirdo @ejeancarroll this morning."

Update 1/4/23, 6:25 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from McQuade.