Sexual assault accuser confronts Trump in NY trial

NEW YORK

The woman whom Donald Trump was found liable of sexually assaulting faced off with the former president Wednesday in a New York courtroom to say he subsequently ruined her reputation.

E. Jean Carroll, 80, is seeking more than $10 million alleging that Trump defamed her in 2019, when she first made her assault allegations public, by saying she "is not my type."

"It means I'm too ugly to assault," Carroll told the court.

Asked about how the comment damaged her reputation, Carroll said "previously I was known simply as a journalist, and now I'm known as a liar, a fraud, and a whack job" — quoting insults leveled at her by the 2024 White House hopeful.

There were tense moments in court as Carroll gave evidence just a few rows away from where Trump sat.

Carroll's legal team complained that Trump was making audible comments about her evidence and that jurors could be influenced, CNN reported.

The judge in the civil case asked that Trump lower his voice when conferring with his legal team.

Following the day's proceedings, Trump used a media briefing to attack the judge for his refusal to delay the trial by a day so he could attend his mother-in-law's funeral.

Trump was in court for the second day as he seeks to use multiple legal cases against him to galvanize supporters ahead of the New Hampshire primary election next week as his 2024 campaign continues.

The trial is separate to a case last year where another New York jury found Trump liable for sexually assaulting Carroll in a department store dressing room in 1996 and subsequently defaming her in 2022, when he called her a "complete con job."

The case is also separate from the four criminal cases and the civil fraud case the real estate tycoon faces.

Trump has been in court while also campaigning ahead for the New Hampshire primary, as he closes in on becoming the Republican candidate in the November election against U.S. President Joe Biden.