Trump dubs Carroll 'Miss Bergdorf Goodman' in dig at defamation verdict
Former President Trump labeled E. Jean Carroll “Miss Bergdorf Goodman” in a Monday interview as he expressed frustration with having to post the full $91.63 million bond in Carroll’s defamation lawsuit against him, even as Trump appeals the recent verdict.
Trump had tried to delay posting his bond or reduce the amount of it, but he ultimately posted the full amount on Friday, hours after the judge rejected his latest attempt to delay his Monday deadline.
With his bond posted, Trump is now seeking to halt enforcement of the judgment as he mounts his appeal, which Trump also filed Friday.
“If I didn’t win on appeal on these ridiculous decisions, if I didn’t win on appeal is the most ridiculous decisions and putting the Miss Bergdorf Goodman, a person I never – I never met, I have no idea who she is,” Trump said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Tuesday morning, referring to Carroll, without mentioning her name.
“Except one thing. I got sued. From that point on I said, Wow, that’s crazy. What this is. I got charged. I was given a false accusation and had to post a $91 million bond on a false accusation,” Trump continued.
In January, a federal jury sitting in New York ordered Trump to pay Carroll $83.3 million for defaming the advice columnist in 2019 by denying her claims that the former president sexually assaulted her decades earlier.
A separate jury last year ruled Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll, leading the former president to cough up $5.5 million in cash. Trump’s reference to “Bergdorf Goodman” is a nod to the department store where Carroll said the sexual assault occurred decades ago.
At a rally in Georgia this weekend, Trump made similar comments about Carroll, expressing frustration at having to post the bond and accusing her of making false accusations against him.
“I just posted a $91 million bond, 91 million, on a fake story, totally made up story,” Trump said, adding, “Ninety-one million, based on false accusations made about me by a woman that I knew nothing about. Didn't know, never heard of. I know nothing about her. She wrote a book. She said things. And when I denied it, I said, ‘It's so crazy. It's false.’ I get sued for defamation. That's where it starts.”
Trump on Friday posted a bond of $91.63 million — 110 percent of the damages, as is standard practice — hours after the judge rejected his latest attempt to delay a deadline he had faced on Monday.