Donald Trump and Billy Bush exit the bus in the ‘Access Hollywood’ tape. (Screenshot via NBC)
Before his infamous “grab them by the p—-” remark in the “Access Hollywood” tape, then-candidate Donald Trump told Billy Bush: “When you’re a star, they let you do it.” Trump doubled-down on those lines during his deposition on E. Jean Carroll’s rape allegations.
“Historically, that’s true, with stars,” Trump testified. “Well what’s what if you look over the last million years, I guess that’s been largely true not always but largely true, unfortunately or fortunately.”
Originally recorded in October 2022, the video deposition was shown to a jury on Thursday. The jury will only hear Trump on video, as he is not planning to appear in person. In a brief passage, Trump sat expressionless as the “Access Hollywood” tape roles in the corner of the frame, marking the second time the jury saw it played.
On Wednesday, the outtake appeared in court for the first time during testimony by journalist Natasha Stoynoff, who testified that Trump pushed her against a wall and started kissing her when she was sent to profile him and his wife Melania at Mar-a-Lago in 2015.
When she saw Trump on the hot mic to Billy Bush, Stoynoff said, she thought: “Oh, he does this to a lot of women. It’s not just me.”
In the video deposition, Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan grilled Trump about his reaction to sexual assault allegations made by Carroll, Stoynoff, and Jessica Leeds, another accuser who said Trump groped her on a plane. In each instance, Trump implied that he didn’t find his accuser physically attractive, and he acknowledged that implication in the video.
In Carroll’s case, Trump said: “She’s not my type,” but the jury saw that claim take a hit when Trump mistook Carroll with his ex-wife Marla Maples in the video.
“That’s Marla, yeah,” Trump could be seen commenting, apparently referring to Carroll. “That’s my wife.”
The photograph, seen in the deposition, showed Trump, Carroll, and then-spouses Ivana Trump and John Johnson. Trump was referring to the woman standing next to Johnson, who was Carroll.
This photograph of Donald Trump and E. Jean Carroll at a party was embedded in her complaint.
As an afterthought, Trump claimed the photograph was “blurry.”
Jumping at the error, Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan asked Trump: “I take it the three women you married are all your type?”
Trump answered in the affirmative.
No fewer than four times, Trump has been seen by jurors disparaging the attractiveness of women who appeared in court. In another video, Trump said of Leeds: “She would not be my first choice.” At a rally, Trump jeered Stoynoff to a roaring crowd by saying: “Look at her. Look at her words. You tell me. What do you think? I don’t think so.”
The fourth woman who’s appearance Trump disparaged was Carroll’s lawyer: Kaplan.
“You wouldn’t be a choice of mine, either, to be honest,” he said during the deposition. “I hope you’re not insulted.”
“I wouldn’t, in any circumstances, have any interest in you,” Trump added.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
