Former President Donald Trump had some harsh words for Judge Lewis Kaplan, whom he called “a nasty man” after his contentious court appearance Wednesday via Mediaite.
It’s worth noting that Trump was not required to be in court for Wednesday’s proceedings in E. Jean Carroll defamation’s case against him, but he said he will attend “all days.”
Last year, a jury found the former president liable for sexually assaulting Carroll in the mid-1990s. She is currently suing Trump for defamation (again) after Trump repeatedly claimed she lied about the assault.
“As you know, the First Lady’s mother passed away,” Trump began, continuing:
The funeral is tomorrow and we would have assumed that for a trial like this — it’s not an emergency in terms of timing — the judge would’ve been very nice and let me go because I want to be at every trial day. Because I saw what happened with the first one — I was asked not to go by the lawyers. Very much, they said, it’s demeaning. There was no evidence, there was no anything. So, I didn’t go. And I understood exactly what he meant when he said it was demeaning. There was no reason to go, you shouldn’t go. And I decided on this one — same judge, same judge. He’s a radical Trump hater.
And I said, I will go to all days. So, what happened very terribly is, we asked to delay the trial just for one day so I could go to the funeral tomorrow and we could start Friday or Monday or anytime they want. And he said, “Absolutely not, the trial will go on just as it is. You can go to the funeral or the trial, you can’t do both.” I thought it was terrible, I thought it was terrible. So, he would rather have me miss the funeral, or go to the funeral and miss the trial. And that’s a nasty man. He’s a nasty judge. He’s a Trump-hating guy and that’s obvious to everyone in the court. It’s a disgrace, frankly, what’s happening. It’s a disgrace.
Trump then threw in a zinger: “Happens to be a Clinton appointment, but I’m sure that has nothing to do with it,” he said.
It’s to be seen how Judge Kaplan will handle Trump’s potential outbursts. Politico’s Erica Orden reported on one of the exchanges between Trump and Judge Kaplan that went down inside the courtroom.
JUDGE: Mr. Trump has the right to be present here. That right can be forfeited. Mr. Trump, I hope I don’t have to consider excluding you from the trial.
TRUMP: I would love it!
JUDGE: I know you would. I know you would. You just can’t control yourself in this circumstance, apparently.
Trump added that he was the one who “suffered damages” and should be paid.
“The big take today was that [E. Jean Carroll] deleted and destroyed massive amounts of evidence. And we think that the both trials should be thrown out, because it’s ridiculous. They should be thrown out. And, I, frankly, am the one who suffered damages. I should be given money, given damages.”
