A deposition given by former US President Donald Trump for a civil rape trial was publicly released on Friday, and revealed several moments in which the former commander-in-chief stood by past comments and even confused his ex-wife for accuser E. Jean Carroll.
However, one of the more stunning revelations from the deposition was the moment in which the former president stood by comments he made in a tape published by Access Hollywood in 2016 that nearly derailed his 2016 presidential campaign.
“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful– I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait,” Trump said while speaking casually to then Access Hollywood co-host Billy Bush in 2005. “And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ‘em by the p***y. You can do anything.”
During his deposition, Trump stood by the comments while referring to them, as he did in 2016, as “locker-room talk.” When asked by lawyer Roberta Kaplan,if it was him making the statements in the video, Trump responded: “Well, historically, that’s true with stars.”
When pressed if it's true that “stars” can grab women by their genitals, Trump insisted it was. “Well, that's what – if you look over the last million years, I guess that’s been largely true. Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately or fortunately,” he emphasized.
Trump later admitted that he could be considered a star as well. “I think you can say that, yeah,” he said.
Trump Confuses Carroll With His Ex-Wife
As was previously reported but not seen by the public until the video came out, Trump also confused the woman who accused him of rape, writer E. Jean Carroll, with his ex-wife Marla Maples when shown a picture of himself, Carroll, her husband and Maples.
“That’s Marla, yeah ... that's my wife,” Trump initially said. But when asked to point to the woman he's referring to, Trump gets it wrong: “The person you’ve just pointed at is E. Jean Carroll,” the lawyer is heard saying.
One of the primary arguments Trump has consistently made against Carroll’s accusations has been that she is not “his type,” a claim he repeated often during the deposition. Kaplan then asks Trump if his three wives are his type and Trump confirms that they are, despite just confusing Carroll with one of his ex-wives.
Trump also told Kaplan she isn’t his type either, going on to refer to her as a “political operative” and a “disgrace.”
“She is accusing me and so are you of rape, and it never took place. And I will tell you I made that statement, and I said, while it’s politically incorrect, she’s not my type. And that’s 100% true. She’s not my type,” the former president said.
Hoaxes Hoaxes Hoaxes
Another moment during the deposition also saw Trump compare the rape allegation to other accusations made against his presidency, including so called 'Russiagate.' After calling the rape claim a hoax, Trump was asked what else he had called a hoax over the years.
“The Russia Russia Russia hoax, it’s been proven to be a hoax. Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine hoax. The Mueller situation for two and a half years hoax – ended and no collusion," Trump said. "It was a whole big hoax."
"The lying to the FISA court hoax; the lying to Congress many times hoax by all these people, this scum that we have in our country; lying to Congress hoax; the spying on my campaign hoax. They spied on my campaign and now they admitted that was another hoax, and I could get a whole list of them. And this is a hoax too," he continued.
When asked if those were comparable to the rape accusations, Trump agreed. “This ridiculous situation that we’re doing right now, it’s a big fat hoax. She’s a liar and she’s a sick person in my opinion, really sick. Something wrong with her,” he said.
Carroll Said She 'Enjoyed the Assault'
Another big moment during the deposition also turned out to be Trump claiming that Carroll said in an interview that rape was sexy.
“I mean, you’ll have to take a look at the interview yourself. I believe she said rape was sexy, to which Anderson Cooper is dying. He’s saying let’s get to a commercial break immediately. I think you better watch the interview.”
A review of the transcript from that interview posted by CNN shows Carroll was talking about how she prefers to use the word “fight” instead of “rape” in regards to what allegedly happened between her and Trump:
“I was not thrown on the ground and ravished. Which the word “rape” carries so many sexual connotations. This was not– this was not sexual. It just hurt. It just–”
Cooper then cuts her off, saying “most people think of rape” as a “violent assault.” Carroll replies “I think most people think of rape as being sexy. They think of the fantasies.” Cooper does cut to a commercial after those comments.
Trump was also asked about two other accusations against him from Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff, both of whom say he sexually assaulted them. Trump denied those accusations as well. Both Leeds and Stoynoff testified at the trial but are not part of the litigation.
The latest developments come as Trump is also facing several other legal challenges, including 34 criminal charges related to hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, investigations into his handling of legal documents and an investigation in Georgia about alleged attempts to overturn the election results in that state.