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Did Donald Trump Just Commit Political Suicide?

By Gage Skidmore: Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona.
By Gage Skidmore: Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona.

Donald Trump Is Now Victim Shaming – Does He Intend to Derail His 2024 Campaign?: It is increasingly looking like it could be time for former President Donald Trump to throw in the towel in his reelection bid.

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On Monday, Trump phoned into the conservative podcast “The Water Cooler” and claimed he’d “handle” Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, a rising star in the GOP. 

Trump, who took credit for getting DeSantis elected in 2018, said, “So now I hear he might want to run against me. So we’ll handle that the way I handle things.”

He didn’t elaborate on precisely what he meant.

However, missing from the narrative is that according to the latest WPA Intelligence Poll, in a hypothetical 2024 matchup, President Joe Biden would win in a landslide against Trump – 49% to 41%. Yet, DeSantis would have an edge of 45% to 42% against Biden.

Though it is still a long way until Election Day, it suggests that Trump’s popularity with Republican voters is waning.

Donald Trump Has More Problems

The latest poll comes as Trump’s baggage is also piling up faster than ever – and at this point, it could be described to resemble the Southwest Airlines baggage claim after the holiday travel snafu.

He’s currently facing an investigation for taking classified documents after he left the White House.

At the same time, legal experts have suggested he may have violated at least three Georgia criminal election laws.

It is entirely possible that his base will look past those issues, and could even rally to his cause. But elections aren’t won by only appealing to the base.

What should be worrisome for his campaign should be that he likely will continue to turn off voters, especially women, in his handling of a defamation lawsuit brought on by a female accuser who alleges the former president had raped her in the 1990s.

The deposition in the lawsuit has been unsealed, and it showed that Trump had repeatedly insulted his accuser as a form of defense.

Even if the allegations are false, Trump’s penchant for name-calling may have simply gone too far for more conservative voters this time. Victim shaming simply is never a good look, but it is worse for any political campaign when you need to rally people to your side.

What Trump Said

Trump is now facing a lawsuit from E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of sexually assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in New York in the late 1990s before he entered politics.

The unsealed deposition became public after a federal judge in New York rejected Trump’s efforts to shield the records from being released, The Hill reported.

Carroll had initially sued Donald Trump in 2019 after he accused her of lying about the incident. He has repeatedly denied the allegations and has called it a hoax.

In the deposition, which was conducted at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida last year, the former president had described Carroll as a “wack job,” and claimed she was “sick, mentally sick,” but also suggested that she claimed in a TV interview that she would have enjoyed being sexually assaulted.

Yet, Carroll had actually said in a TV interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper in 2019 that “most people think of rape as being sexy … they think of the fantasies,” but that “this was not sexual — it just hurt.”

Not His Type

Trump also attempted to defend himself by stating in the deposition, “When I say she’s not my type, I say she is not a woman I would ever be attracted to. There is no reason for me to be attracted to her.”

That statement suggests that because he wasn’t attracted to his accuser, he wouldn’t want to engage in sexual activity with her.

However, experts in rape suggest the act isn’t about attraction or even sex, as it is about power and control over the victim. 

However, this is not the first time he used this argument to rebuff her claims. In an October post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump previously insulted Carroll also by stating that she “is not my type!” 

Trump’s “type” is, of course, well known. In addition to his current wife Melania – a former glamour model – Trump’s ex-wives include the late fashion designer Ivana Zelníčková, and actress Marla Maples; while he “dated” tennis star Gabriela Sabatini, reality star Kim Richards, and model Kara Young among others. He also was reported to have had a 10-month-long affair with Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal.

Newsweek has posted the rape remarks made during last October’s deposition.

Survivor’s Act

Carroll brought the lawsuit after New York’s Adult Survivors Act went into effect on November 24, 2002. It provided alleged adult sexual assault victims one year to bring lawsuits even if the statute had expired.

Carroll filed the second lawsuit against Trump in New York last year, while a judge has since rejected Trump’s motion to dismiss that lawsuit. The former president has maintained that the lawsuit is not only a waste of time but is meant to be a distraction to voters.

“Keep Trump busy because this is the way you defeat him, to keep him busy with litigation,” he said.

The case is expected to go to trial in April.

MORE: Is Donald Trump a ‘Cognitive Mess’? 

MORE: Should Joe Biden Really Run in 2024? 

MORE: Ron DeSantis May Peak Too Early

Author Experience and Expertise: A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.

Written By

Expert Biography: A Senior Editor for 1945, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,000 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.

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