Internet divided as court rules Trump must pay $83.3M to E Jean Carroll in defamation case

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: President Donald Trump lost his appeal on Monday, September 8, as a federal court ruled he must pay $83.3 million to columnist E Jean Carroll.

The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the decision was fair and reasonable, leaving intact the damages awarded after Carroll’s defamation lawsuit against Trump.

Court rejects Trump’s immunity defense in E Jean Carroll case

Donald Trump’s lawyers argued that the Supreme Court’s July 2024 decision expanding presidential immunity should shield him in the case. 

"Trump has failed to identify any grounds that would warrant reconsidering our prior holding on presidential immunity," the appeals court ruled.

"We also conclude that the district court did not err in any of the challenged rulings and that the jury's damages awards are fair and reasonable," the opinion said.

The president last year was ordered to pay $83.3 million in damages to Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, for defaming her in 2019 when he denied abusing her in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the 1990s.

Panel says E Jean Carroll was continuously attacked because of Trump's remarks

Donald Trump argued that his 2019 comments were made in his role as president and that denying him immunity would harm the independence of the executive branch.

He also said US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the case, erred by striking his testimony that he was defending himself, his family, and “frankly the presidency.”

His lawyers further claimed the trial judge wrongly granted Carroll partial summary judgment, but the appeals court rejected those arguments.

In October 2022, Trump repeated similar comments on Truth Social, which resulted in a separate $5 million verdict.

The $83.3 million judgment included $18.3 million in damages for emotional and reputational harm, and $65 million in punitive damages.

The three-judge panel decided "Trump acted with, at a minimum, reckless disregard for the truth" when he called Carroll a liar and said she's not his type. The panel said the $18.3 million the jury awarded Carroll in compensatory damages was fair," ABC News noted.

"After Trump released his statements, which were viewed by between 85.8 to 104 million people, Carroll was instantly and continuously attacked on Twitter and Facebook and in emails. She received thousands of such attacks, including hundreds of death threats," the panel said.

The panel also rejected Trump's argument that the punitive damage award of $65 million was grossly excessive. 

Internet divided as Trump loses bid to overturn $83.3M judgment

Internet users reacted strongly to the ruling, with some celebrating and others expressing skepticism.

“That’s great news!” wrote one. Another said, “The Supreme Court will overturn it, I bet.”

Others doubted Carroll would ever collect the money. A person said, “He’ll find a way to slither out, trust me.”

Some dismissed the case as politically driven. “Nobody actually believes a court in NY could ever be impartial,” one wrote. Another called it “political warfare, woke judge.”

Meanwhile, others celebrated the outcome. “Justice!” one user said. Another noted Trump’s wealth, writing, “I’d hardly call it a ‘devastating blow’. Apparently Trump made over 1.3 billion dollars in crypto in the past few weeks alone.”

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