“You nasty little boy!” According to Mary Trump, Donald Trump has always had bowel issues, and was not fully toilet trained until almost six years old. He often had “accidents” for which his mother would scold him and often spank him. His incontinence and smell has been the subject of recent reporting.

Trump and E. Jean Carroll -Why Antagonize the Judge and Jury?

CJ Sterling
7 min readJan 20, 2024

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In the courtroom drama surrounding E. Jean Carroll and Donald Trump, the trial unfolds as a costly battle not only in legal terms but also in the court of public opinion. As donors reassess their support one can’t help but wonder — will Trump’s financial recklessness prove to be his Achilles’ heel, or will the show go on with a price tag that extends beyond legal fees?

In this latest case about the rape and defamation of E. Jean Carroll, the only issue is the amount of money the jury will award her for the damage to her reputation caused by Trump’s denials and the constant public attacks on her character, the vile name-calling, and her motivation. Even as Trump sat in front of Judge Kaplan and the jury, he continued to mutter loud enough for the jury to hear, “it is a witch hunt” and calling it a “con job,” despite several warnings and a pre-trial order forbidding him from further attacking her, denying the rape, and further defaming Carroll.

Americans and the media all have the same question: “What kind of trial strategy is this?”

How will it benefit Trump as the defendant to antagonize the judge presiding over his own case? How does acting like a petulant bully in a defamation case, or further defaming Carroll in front of a jury -who will ultimately decide how many millions in damage he…

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CJ Sterling

Writer, journalist. Commentary: Washington Post, Economist, Daily Beast, New York Times, Seattle Times, Crosscut, The Stranger. 22.5 million views, Quora.