2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley weighed in on the New York jury verdict that ruled former President Donald Trump must pay millions for defaming E. Jean Carroll, arguing that the country can “do better.”
“Donald Trump wants to be the presumptive Republican nominee and we’re talking about $83 million in damages,” Haley said in a post on X. “We’re not talking about fixing the border. We’re not talking about tackling inflation. America can do better than Donald Trump and Joe Biden.”
A nine-person jury found on Friday that Trump should pay $65 million in punitive damages to Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, and $18.3 million in compensatory damages for emotional harm and other damages for defaming her in his denial of her claim that he raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York in mid-1990s. Trump called the allegations a “hoax” and Carroll a “liar.”
Friday’s $83.3 million verdict adds to the $5 million Trump owes Carroll from a separate May trial where a jury found Trump was liable for sexually assaulting Carroll and defaming her.
Alina Habba, Trump’s attorney, leveled heavy accusations at the judge over witnesses and the handling of Trump’s defense testimony, calling the situation a “violation of our justice system.”
“We were stripped of every defense, every single defense before we walked in there, and I am proud to stand with President Trump because he showed up, he stood up, he took the stand, and he faced this judge,” Habba said.
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Haley is the last remaining major contender in the Republican primary. She came in third place in the Iowa caucuses and lost to Trump in the New Hampshire primary, 54% to 43%. She told supporters following her loss on Tuesday that “this race is far from over.”
On Friday, Haley said she raised $2.6 million in the 48 hours after the New Hampshire primary. Nearly half of the total, $1.2 million, came in after Trump said any donors who contribute to Haley’s campaign would be “permanently barred from the MAGA camp.”
