Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance ripped into the “ridiculous” E. Jean Carroll case against former President Donald Trump, calling it an “unfair ruling” to victims of sexual assault Sunday.
Vance appeared on ABC’s “This Week” to discuss the recent ruling in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case against Trump. A jury awarded the former Elle Magazine writer a total of $83.3 million in damages on Jan. 26, following Carroll’s claims that Trump had made defamatory statements about her in 2019.
ABC host George Stephanopoulos questioned Vance if his support of Trump is “sanctioning” sexual assault behavior, to which the senator pushed back, calling the ruling “very unfair” to victims of sexual assault.” Vance claimed that most Americans “recognize” the cases against Trump are not what they “want to fight” in the 2024 election. (RELATED: ‘Not A Republican’: Ohio GOP Leaders Slam Governor Over Transgender Bill Veto)
“Well, I think it’s actually very unfair to the victims of sexual assault to say that somehow their lives are being worse by electing Donald Trump for president — when what he’s trying to do, I think, is restore prosperity, so I think it’s insulting to the victims of sexual assault,” Vance stated.
“I think most Americans recognize that this is not what we want to fight the 2024 election over. Let’s fight it over issues, let’s fight it over how to redeliver prosperity to the American worker and peace to the world at large, not over these ridiculous court cases that, frankly, they’ve been throwing at Trump for well before he became a political candidate.”
The ABC host quickly jumped in to question Vance’s use of terms, highlighting how he called the cases “ridiculous.” Vance argued the juries within New York are in “extremely left-wing jurisdictions,” pointing out how Americans don’t want to talk about “weird juries” in New York City. Stephanopoulos pushed back again, questioning if Vance thought juries in NYC were legitimate. The senator continued to state the juries should be called into question, emphasizing where their donations came from. (RELATED: JD Vance Has Fiery Response For Reporter Who Presses Him On Trump ‘Blood’ Comments)
“You call it a ‘ridiculous’ case. These were juries that found him liable for sexual assault and defamation. That’s ridiculous?” Stephanopoulos questioned.
“These are juries, George, in extremely left-wing jurisdictions. These are cases that are very often funded by left-wing donors and their cases that are funded explicitly to harm him politically, not to seek justice for any particular group of individuals,” Vance stated.
“There are so many crises happening all across the world. There are so many problems right here at home. I think Donald Trump is the best guy to fix those problems, and I think that we have a very, very good chance of persuading the American people. What they don’t want to talk about is weird juries in New York City. They want to talk about how to make their lives better and how to bring the world to a more peaceful place,” Vance stated.
“So juries in New York City are not legitimate when they find some liable for sexual defamation and assault?” Stephanopoulos pushed back.
“Well, when the cases are funded by left-wing donors and when the case has absolute left-wing bias all over it, George, absolutely I think that we should call into question that particular conclusion. We have to remember, of course, that these cases exist not because they were trying to seek justice,” Vance stated.
“Reid Hoffman, a far-left donor did not fund this case because he cares about what happens to sexual assault victims. He funded this case to harm his political opponent, Donald Trump. It’s pretty weird, it’s a weird thing to do to use the courts in this way. It’s never happened before in American history and, yes, I think it should call into question the entire apparatus that’s being used to go after Donald Trump.”
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman notably has become a significant donor to Democrat causes and efforts specifically opposing Trump. He bankrolled multiple cases of Carroll against the former president.