It’s official. E. Jean Carroll is a national treasure, and a hero.
No doubt you’re aware of the backstory: in the mid-1990s, Donald Trump sexually assaulted Carroll in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman department store. She described it in a 2019 memoir; Trump denied the allegation, and then defamed her – calling her a liar, while also disparaging her appearance.
She sued, and a jury found him guilty of sexual abuse and defamation and awarded her $5 million in damages. For most people, that would be the end of the matter.
Not so with Trump. The day after the $5 million verdict was announced, Trump appeared in a CNN Town Hall where he again defamed Carroll, saying her account was a ‘fake,’ ‘made up story’ invented by a ‘whack job.’ Two weeks later, Carroll asked the court to amend the defamation claims to include these new statements – and the court agreed, setting trial for January 2024.
On Friday, after deliberating for just a few hours, the jury awarded her $83 million in damages.
Carroll holds herself so confidently that it wasn’t until I watched a clip from Rachel Maddow’s show that I realized just how much the stress and strain of the trial had impacted her.
This trial would be the very first time she would be physically in the same space as Trump since he assaulted her in the 1990s. The thought of it was so terrifying that, in the days before trial was to begin, she actually lost the ability to speak.
But she followed through. She took the stand. And something extraordinary happened:
“I looked out. And he was nothing. He was nothing. He was a phantom. It was the people around him who were giving him power. He himself was nothing. It was an astonishing discovery for me. He’s nothing. We don’t need to be afraid of him. He can be knocked down.”
(Watch the clip here: https://x.com/MaddowBlog/status/1752157184190767346?s=20)
He’s … nothing.
First, let’s appreciate how poetic it is that it was an 80-year-old woman – flanked by two female attorneys – who took the former president of the United States down a few pegs.
But also, let’s appreciate her revelation for what it is: Donald Trump is merely a person – and one that can be knocked down by brave, smart, dedicated people like E. Jean Carrol.
And people like you.
The jig is up. The con is over.
People can finally see behind the curtain. We have every reason to be concerned about Donald Trump being the Republican nominee for president. And we need to do everything in our power to ensure that he loses. But it’s also really important for us to see what she saw in that New York courtroom: he’s not invincible.
He’s the childish buffoon who is trying to take credit for the current stock market, who mixes Nikki Haley up with Nancy Pelosi, who has confused Biden with Obama, and who recently said “We are an institute in a powerful death penalty.” (That’s a head-scratcher.)
Trump is a showman, and over decades he’s built a mirage of success that’s completely based on a larger-than-life persona. That persona is the foundation of the myth that makes him popular – and electable.
It’s also smoke and mirrors.
He’s a loser.
Better yet, he knows he’s a loser.
So he relies upon a whole world of people to hide that fact – from himself, and from everyone else.
That makes our jobs easier: we just need to keep reminding people that Trump is a loser.
And E. Jean Carroll, bless her, is leading the way.
Let’s get to work.
Actions for the Week of January 30, 2024
Call Your Congresscritters: Aid to Ukraine NOW
First Republicans claimed that securing the border was so critical that they would never fund Ukraine without significant immigration reform. The Biden administration negotiated with Republicans to come up with a bipartisan plan to do exactly that. Now Republicans (with Trump out in front) are pulling the football away – openly saying they’re torpedoeing the bill (and aid to Ukraine) because they don’t want to give Joe Biden a win.
In other words, they don’t want to do what’s best for the American people, our allies, and national security, because they believe that doing so is best for them politically.
As Heather Cox Richardson pointed out in today’s Letter to an American, yesterday Secretary Blinken said in a press conference: “Without [funding], simply put, everything that Ukrainians achieved and that we’ve helped them achieve will be in jeopardy. … And…we’re going to be sending a strong and wrong message to all of our adversaries that we are not serious about the defense of freedom, the defense of democracy. And it will simply reinforce for Vladimir Putin that he can somehow outlast Ukraine and outlast us.” (See the press conference here: https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-and-nato-secretary-general-jens-stoltenberg-at-a-joint-press-availability-3/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email)
We need to be very, very loud about this. Especially if you live in a red state and have Republican members of congress, you need to call them to let them know that you are horrified they would put our national security at risk to give Donald Trump a talking point.
Script: Hi, my name is _____ and I’m a constituent at [zip]. I’m calling to urge the Congress(wo)man to pass aid to Ukraine. I’m horrified that Republicans would damage national security and torpedo bipartisan immigration reform to keep it as an election issue.
Biden For the Win! (H/T Jessica Craven, Sue Rogan, and Heather Cox Richardson!)
A reader of Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters to an American has the “Biden for the Win campaign [which] is designed to break down what is at stake in 2024 in cards that can be printed at home or at a copy center and either used as talking points or simply distributed where you think they will do some good.”
HCR lays out just how helpful an effort like this was back in the 1930s in re-electing FDR. As she says – what’s old is new again! Let’s help history repeat itself and do what we can to spread good news. (You can read HCR’s introduction of the project on facebook here.) You can see the cards and print them here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-Z3W8ck1EKZREHsW25n8K3zwbyrhS3ge?fbclid=IwAR1NCbnbdaYx6ZrKxmGd2fthEqoNRQSDuFA-lqT3iZ3SSGKMFzkhknjw-6c
Join Indivisible’s Rural Caucus 2024 Kickoff on Wednesday 1/31:
Join the Rural Indivisibles for the first call of 2024. From their description: From your state legislative session to Election Day, it’s going to be a long journey to 2025. But get excited! On this call we’ll be joined by co-executive director Leah Greenberg to talk about what’s ahead, we’ll share updates on the various fights taking place in Congress, and we’ll chat about your priorities for state legislative work so that we can support you in the work you’re doing at the state level. As always, this call will specifically address the issues and framings most important to rural Indivisibles but is open to everyone.
Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0qdOiprjgsH9QrMOMJNKNeAa6sxAgcxPmj#/registration
Join Fairness Project For Update on Upcoming Ballot Initiatives
Feb 1, 2024 04:00 PM in Central Time (US and Canada)
Description: Join the Fairness Project and special guests for a webinar about critical ballot measures in the 2024 election. Speakers will share updates on upcoming progressive ballot measures and efforts to defend direct democracy in 2024, including opportunities to defend abortion access in red and purple states; expand paid leave benefits; raise minimum wages; and other issues crucial for improving economic and social justice.
WHEW! GO TEAM!
P.S.: Why don’t you make someone’s day and send this pep talk to a friend or two? I bet they need it.
If you’d like to sign up to get this pep talk and action list in your in-box each week, you can do that here. Welcome, friend!
P.P.S.: If you want to help support this work you can do so via Patreon at
https://www.patreon.com/smalldeedsdone or via paypal at https://www.paypal.me/smalldeeds
My deepest gratitude in advance.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for writing. I read and respond to every email! We’re in this together. Don’t you forget it.
Small Deeds Done 