It’s not that MAGA doesn’t believe E. Jean Carroll — they just don’t care that Trump abuses women

Not that she’ll ever bring herself to use words like “rapist” or “sexual predator,” but former Gov. Nikki Haley, R-S.C., is ready to admit out loud that Donald Trump sexually assaulted journalist E. Jean Carroll. While on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Haley was asked about Friday’s civil court decision to award Carroll $83.3 million because Trump keeps lying about the woman he attacked in a department store dressing room in the 90s. 

“I absolutely trust the jury,” Haley affirmed. “I think they made their decision based on the evidence.”

These comments got wide coverage because it wasn’t that long ago that Haley was still pretending it was unknown if Trump committed this crime, even though the jury in the first court case that ended in May found that he did. As the judge in the case wrote in court documents, “The fact that Mr. Trump sexually abused — indeed, raped — Ms. Carroll has been conclusively established.” Haley’s newfound willingness to concede this fact, even in this roundabout way, is being taken as further evidence that she’s finally ready to put up a fight against Trump in the Republican presidential primary, despite the near-certain likelihood she will lose. 

That may be true, but there may be something else going on. Haley isn’t too worried about offending Republican voters, because most of them also know full well that Trump is guilty. This isn’t — and likely has never been — a situation where Trump voters are legitimately confused about whether Carroll was telling the truth. They’ve all heard the “grab ’em by the pussy” tape. They know Trump is downright proud to be a sexual predator. It’s just that most of them don’t care. For some, Trump’s propensity for violence against women is likely a plus.

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Part of what is going on is the MAGA base has embraced Trump’s view that he should have “immunity” to commit crimes because he’s a “star” and they should have to “let you do it.” But the willingness to shrug off Trump’s sexual abusiveness is also just the same rape culture and victim-blaming that feminists have been speaking out against forever. American conservatism has always been misogynist, but it’s grown even more repugnant under Trump’s leadership. The abuse that Trump has been heaping on Carroll is celebrated by MAGA as putting her in her place. 

Yes, Trump frequently denies he assaulted Carroll, knowing that’s what he’s “supposed” to say. But his well-known propensity to brag about crimes causes him to, at times, drop the pretense of innocence. During the deposition for the first Carroll trial, Trump’s delight in his sexual violence kept leaking out. He poutingly insisted men have been allowed to rape for “millions of years,” shruggingly adding, “unfortunately or fortunately,” with little doubt that “fortunately” is where he falls on the question. Trump also keeps insulting women, including his victims, by saying they aren’t good-looking enough to sexually assault. As Carroll’s attorney pointed out during the first trial, the clear implication is that sexual assault is justified if the victim is hot enough. 

The day after Trump lost in court for the first time to E. Jean Carroll, he did a CNN town hall where he implied that his victim had it coming. “We had this great chemistry,” he whined, just moments after falsely claiming he didn’t know Carroll. “What kind of a woman meets somebody and brings them up and within minutes you’re playing hanky-panky in a dressing room?” Just old-school victim-blaming there: She flirted with him, so she had no right to say no to sex. But what is so telling in this clip is how his fans laugh uproariously in agreement that this “kind of woman” deserves to be sexually assaulted:

There’s a myth in the mainstream media that “everyone” thinks sexual assault is bad, but clearly, that is not the case. As Atlantic writer Adam Serwer famously said of the MAGA movement, “The cruelty is the point.” This sadism manifests in many ways, from wanting to see migrants drown to death in the Rio Grande to open longing to shoot Black Lives Matter protesters. This malice extends to women. That’s why rape victims get blamed with questions like “what were you wearing” and “why were you out of the house?” Carroll is a career woman who felt free to date whomever she wanted. And Trump was right to think his audience would applaud him for suggesting that sexual assault is what such women are asking for. 

Last week, medical researchers published a paper estimating that 65,000 women became pregnant from rape in abortion-ban states since the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health in 2022. This report was produced to counteract anti-choice disinformation to minimize the problem of rape victims being denied abortions, despite the flood of stories showing girls as young as 10 being forced by bans to flee their state or give birth. The dark truth, however, is Republicans have always known that rape-related pregnancy is common. It’s just that, as Jessica Valenti wrote in her newsletter, “these groups don’t want sexual violence victims to have control over their own bodies.” 

The cruel laughter at Carroll at Trump’s CNN town hall shows why. A big part of the nostalgia driving the “make America great again” slogan is a longing for the days when rape was almost always blamed on the victim and not the perpetrator: She drank alcohol. She wasn’t a virgin. She stayed out late without a chaperone. She flirted with a guy she barely knew at a department store. Once you’re adopted the view that rape is a justified consequence for women acting in ways you don’t like, it’s an easy step to throw forced childbirth in as further punishment. 

Over the weekend, the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Vince McMahon resigned his position, in response to a Wall Street Journal sharing the details of a new lawsuit alleging sexual abuse and sex trafficking by a former employee, Janel Grant. Her story is harrowing. She alleges that McMahon not only raped her but pimped her out to his associates. Grant even claims McMahon defecated on her head during one encounter that included a male buddy. 

McMahon is issuing the expected denials, despite Grant producing apparent text messages documenting the abuse. There’s damning context, as well: McMahon has reportedly paid at least $14 million over the years to women alleging abuse, purchasing their silence and writing it off as a business expense. Rape allegations about him go back to at least 1986 when another employee says he raped her. McMahon was pushed out of his leadership role in 2022 because of all this, but he came back just a few months later, even as the corporate board admitted in a federal filing that “Mr. McMahon’s membership on our board could expose us to negative publicity and/or have other adverse financial and operational impacts on our business.”

McMahon and Trump are, famously, close friends. That’s saying something, as Trump doesn’t really seem to have many friends, just hangers-on. One thing the two certainly have in common is their proud misogyny. Both have faced few consequences for alleged sexual abuse, and it’s no wonder. In their MAGA world they’ve built around themselves, sexual abuse seems like it’s viewed as a glorious pastime, not something to be ashamed of. Trump, of course, bragged about sexual assault on tape and often hints he would like to keep bragging about it, in response to Carroll’s lawsuits. Grant’s lawsuit alleges that McMahon would share nude photos of her with his friends and colleagues, and then command her to have sex with them, threatening her with financial ruin if she refused. 

Far from being secretive deviants who live in fear of people finding out their secret, most sexual predators are proud of themselves and imagine that others, especially other men, will think their behavior is awesome. Unfortunately, they are all too often validated in that belief. It’s only grown uglier in the Trump era, as mocking sexual assault victims, like other repugnant behavior, gets valorized as just one more delightful way to “trigger the liberals.” Trump might be mad that he has to pay Carroll millions of dollars in compensation. But he doesn’t seem worried about losing any Republican support after two jury verdicts showing he’s guilty. All the cruel laughter on CNN instead suggests his sexual predations just make him more popular with MAGA voters.