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According to the lead attorney representing E Jean Carroll, it has been alleged that former President Donald Trump utilized a covert and widely recognized phrase to refer to her as the c-word while giving a statement under oath.
Roberta Kaplan, an attorney, represented Ms. Carroll in her two defamation trials. This was in response to Mr. Trump’s repeated accusations of lying and personal insults towards Ms. Carroll after the release of her memoir in 2019. In the memoir, she claimed that the former president had raped her in a dressing room in a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s.
Donald Trump was held responsible for committing sexual abuse in the initial defamation trial. This decision also carried over to the second trial, leaving the second jury to only determine the amount of damages to be awarded. In the end, Ms. Carroll was granted $83.3 million.
Ms Kaplan was a guest on the George Conway Explains It All podcast, which is hosted by the conservative lawyer who first suggested that Ms Carroll should take legal action against Mr Trump.
According to Ms Kaplan, the event occurred while Mr Trump was being questioned at Mar-a-Lago in a separate lawsuit involving alleged ties to a deceptive marketing company. This case has since been dropped.
The lawyer stated that when the questioning concluded, the Trump legal team ensured that the proceedings were officially closed and no longer recorded. At this point, Mr. Trump turned to her and said, “See you next Tuesday.”
The phrase “c***” is formed by combining the letters c and u, which when spoken together sound like “see you,” and the initial letters of next and Tuesday. This creates an acronym rebus, as stated by Dictionary.com.
The saying was first seen on the internet in 1999 and then later appeared on Twitter in 2006.
“I was grateful that I didn’t understand the meaning of that, so I asked him, ‘What do you mean? I’ll be back on Wednesday,” Ms Kaplan shared with Mr Conway during the podcast.
She stated that her response was truthful and she genuinely did not understand what he was referring to. Her coworkers later explained the supposed meaning behind Mr. Trump’s statement.
Sarah Longwell, a Republican strategist who opposes Trump and co-host of a podcast, described it as a “joke on a teenage boy’s level.”
“If I had been aware, I definitely would have become upset,” Ms. Kaplan stated. “I appeared to be acting superior, but that was not the case. I simply lacked knowledge.”
Ms. Kaplan stated that Mr. Trump flung a stack of papers onto the table following his legal team’s invitation to lunch for Ms. Kaplan and her coworkers.
She recounted that there was a massive stack of papers and evidence in front of him. He grabbed the pile and forcefully tossed it across the table before storming out of the room.
During a CNN interview, Mr. Conway described Mr. Trump’s actions as “disgraceful.”
“I find it upsetting that he, as a former president of the United States, would engage in such derogatory behavior,” he stated. “His remarks were blatantly misogynistic and disrespectful, using a woman’s appearance as an insult and attempting to make light of it. It was a disgraceful display of indecent conduct that should not be tolerated from any adult.”
“I wouldn’t even say it was teenage boy-level conduct. It was just utterly, utterly childish, and you know, it’s not that surprising that Trump does this … we’ve seen him do all sorts of crude things over time,” he added.
During an interview with CNN, Mr. Conway mentioned a similar event that took place in 2019. At the time, President Trump had praised two female astronauts for completing an EVA, which stands for extravehicular activity, or a spacewalk outside of the space shuttle. It was notable because it was the first time an all-female team had conducted an EVA.
According to Mr. Conway, a male astronaut made a comment about a female astronaut being the first woman to go outside the space shuttle. She politely corrected him, causing him to appear surprised. He then touched his forehead with his middle finger, causing speculation that he was giving the astronauts the finger.
“He was initially given the benefit of the doubt by others, but I personally struggle to continue giving him that benefit after witnessing his actions,” he stated.
The Independent has contacted the Trump campaign for a response.
Source: independent.co.uk