Trump laughs with CNN's town hall audience over being found liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll, repeating similar insults cited in her successful case against him

Former President Donald Trump and E. Jean Carroll.

AP/AP

• Trump continued to attack columnist E. Jean Carroll during a nationally televised town hall.
• Just a day before, Carroll partially won her federal civil case against Trump.
• The former president suggested that his support went up after being found liable for sexual abuse.

Former President Donald Trump continued to attack E. Jean Carroll on Wednesday evening, suggesting the columnist was a "whack job" and overly promiscuous as he repeated the same misogynistic attacks that were at the root of the reason he was found liable for defamation.

"My poll numbers just came out and they went up," Trump claimed to CNN moderator Kaitlan Collins in response to her first question on whether the verdict in Carroll's civil case would hurt the former president politically. A federal jury found Trump was liable Tuesday for sexual abuse and defamation.

The former president then turned Collins' other questions about Carroll into his version of a comedy routine, cracking up the audience CNN assembled of New Hampshire Republicans and effectively independent voters. At many points, Trump appeared to repeat the same rhetoric that led to Carroll's suit in the first place.

"This woman, I don't know her, I never met her, I don't know who she is, I had a picture taken years ago with her husband John Johnson," Trump said, pointing out Carroll called her now ex-husband an "ape" in an argument that led to Johnson allegedly strangling her. (Judge Lewis Kaplan admonished Trump's lawyer when tried to introduce the ape comment as evidence.)

Trump went on to suggest that Carroll, who vividly recounted her allegation on the witness stand, was overly promiscuous. 

"What kind of a woman meets somebody and brings them up and within minutes you're playing hanky panky in a dressing room? I don't know if she was married then or not. I feel sorry for you John Johnson," Trump said to a chorus of laughter.

The former president then swore on his children, attacked the federal judge, and called Carroll "a whack job."

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