On Tuesday, the verdict came in in Donald Trumpās sexual battery case. The Manhattan jury in the civil case pressed by writer E. Jean Carroll found the former president liable for sexual battery and defamation and awarded Carroll $5 million, although jurors did not find she presented enough evidence to prove her rape case.
What the verdict means going forward, of course, is going to be a matter of vigorous debate. And when I think of someone I want elucidating the left side of that debate, among the names that very much does not come up is Geraldo Rivera of Fox News.
But because this is the new Fox News ā where Riveraās knee-jerk, self-important, uninformed leftism is perfectly welcome as a rotating co-host of āThe Five,ā but Tucker Carlson is being paid millions to fly-fish instead of host a show ā thatās exactly what we got after the verdict was announced, along with Trump supporter Leo Terrell for the right.
Suffice it to say that Rivera got torched.
Riveraās case for the importance of the Carroll verdict was as follows: āA woman in New York, or a New York jury, has found you liable for doing it,ā Rivera said. āCan you imagine being that finger in your face? Is it this ā this pales in comparison to a, you know, politically charged Disneyland that the president can level at DeSantis. This is very, very serious. To minimalize a charge of sexual battery in this day and age, I think that youāre, uh, uh, being naĆÆve.ā
What he said.
Geraldoās arguments, such as they were, relied on two points: 1) sexual battery is an imposing charge āin this day and ageā and 2) isnāt this historic and wonāt it torpedo Trumpās 2024 nomination?
To which Leo Terrell noted there were other historic āfirstsā involving a president that Rivera was ignoring ā and that other candidates will use what happened in a Manhattan courtroom āat their own peril.ā
āYou attack Trump, you attack 75 million Trump supporters,ā Terrell said. āThatās why all these other candidates are walking a fine line.ā
āSo you donāt think that happens on a debate stage?ā host Martha MacCallum asked. āYou donāt think that anyone brings it up?ā
āI think people bring it up at their own peril,ā Terrell said. āHereās the key point: Mar-a-Lago raid, historic. Two impeachments, historic. Criminal charges, historic. A civil case. And guess what? His numbers keep going up.ā
āWhat does that tell you, Geraldo? What does that tell the other candidates?ā Terrell continued.
āTrump is popular with the everyday people. Maybe not inside the Beltway, Martha, Iāll give you that, but the everyday people ā no candidate on this planet can rally 40 or 50 thousand people on a weekend when he calls for a rally. Thatās the magic of Donald Trump.ā
Geraldo went on to say Terrell āis right about the charisma and magnetism of Donald Trumpā but still thought the verdict would carry some weight.
The full discussion is here:
Naturally, Geraldo being Geraldo, this rather misses the mark. Considering heās recently had appearances on āThe Fiveā canceled, itās enough to make one wonder why heās still on the show at all.
Look at the āhistoricā firsts Terrell cited:
The Mar-a-Lago raid, first time a former president had his residence raided by the FBI.
Two impeachments, the first time that has been done against any president (and on rather flimsy grounds both times with no hope of a conviction in the Senate in either case).
Criminal charges, the first against a former president (flimsy though they might be).
Same with the civil case the state of New York is pursuing against the Trump Organization.
Then you have Carrollās civil case, decided in the bluest part of the country by a jury that couldnāt even decide in Carrollās favor on the most serious points of her civil complaints.
Given that this was Manhattan, I was halfway surprised the jury didnāt just tack on an extra few million because āwe thought Trump shot a man in Reno just to watch him die; although that wasnāt really part of the suit, per se, we thought, you know, what the heck?ā
As it turns out, the verdict ā even as much as the establishment media tried to spin it as a big win for Carroll, despite the fact Trump didnāt even bother mounting a defense and will cover the costs with pocket change ā landed with a thud.
This is how the left and the anti-Trump will end up getting torched just like Geraldo did. The fix is in when it comes to the legal warfare Democrats are waging against Donald Trump, but as Terrell put it, āeveryday Americansā know it.
And politicans and pundits who ignore that fact do so at their own peril.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
