Donald Trump’s lawyer on Thursday tried to disassemble a decades-old rape claim against the former president, questioning why prosecutor E. Jean Carroll didn’t scream or seek help when Trump allegedly assaulted her in a department store.

But Carroll, a writer and former advice columnist, countered the suggestion that rape victims are supposed to behave in a certain way, saying such thoughts prevent women from coming forward.

I’m telling you, he raped me whether I screamed or not,” Carroll said in a rising and breaking voice at the federal civil trial in New York.

Carroll, who is suing Trump over the alleged assault, claims he raped her in a dressing room of the upscale Manhattan store in 1996. She didn’t go to the police and say she

only

told

only

two good friends at the time.

Trump attorney Joseph Tacopina suggested her claims were tense credulity, claiming that she

only

came forward

only

in 2019 halfway through Trump’s presidency because of her contempt for his politics and because she wanted to sell copies of her book.

Trump, 76, says the meeting never happened, that he doesn’t know Carroll and that she’s not his type.

Column: Losing track of all cases against Trump? This is why E Jean Carroll’s is so devastating

Trump did not mention the process at a campaign event Thursday in Manchester, N

.H. w Hampshire.

He is not expected in court, although his lawyers have not ruled it out entirely. Jurors are expected to see parts of a videotaped statement he made in the case.

On Wednesday, Trump launched a counterattack against the trial on social media, telling followers on his Truth Social platform that the case was a fabricated SCAM and hinting at a DNA issue that Judge Lewis A. Kaplan has ruled out of the trial.

The outburst drew a reprimand and a warning from Kaplan, who called it completely inappropriate.

Consistent and unflappable in her second day of testimony, Carroll grew frustrated as Tacopina zoomed in on how she says she behaved during the alleged assault. She says it happened after a chance meeting with Trump at the Bergdorf Goodman luxury chain in the spring of 1996.

You can’t beat me up for not yelling, Carroll told Tacopina forcefully. She had explained in previous testimonials that she was not a yeller, I am a fighter.

What you need to know about the Trump rape case in New York federal court

Carroll, 79, said if she had lied about the attack, she would have told people she screamed because more people would have believed me.

But, she insisted, I don’t need an excuse not to scream.

When Tacopina supposedly used the word to question her claim, she immediately and sternly rebuked him.

Not supposedly. I was raped, she said.

That’s your version, Mrs. Carroll, that you were raped, Tacopina said.

Those are the facts, she replied.

“Donald Trump raped me,” the writer tells the jury in a trial

However, she admitted that some of the details of her story, including the lack of witnesses in a department store, were hard to grasp.

To make that point clear, Tacopina questioned Carroll about her testimony that she ended up fighting Trump while holding 4-inch

(10 centimeters)

high heels and without letting go of her bag.

The lawyer emphasized through his questions that she did not ask anyone in the store for help, as she reportedly fled by riding down an escalator six flights of stairs, did not ask about security videos and did not seek medical attention or call the police.

Carroll said she was initially charmed by Trump when he asked her for help finding a woman’s gift, traded jokes with her about trying on a sheer piece of clothing and led her to a dressing room. Even when he slammed the door and pushed her against the wall, she said, she couldn’t help but laugh and think there had been some mistake or misunderstanding.

Trying to figure out what the hell was going on, Carroll tested while jurors listened intently.

Then he put his mouth against mine, she said, and I understood.

Rape lawsuit puts Trump and women back in the spotlight

Carroll said Trump ripped down her tights and raped her before kneeling him and fleeing. She said she would have kept the accusation a secret forever if it wasn’t for her

the

#MeToo movement, which gained prominence in 2017.

The Associated Press usually doesn’t name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.

Carroll sued in November after New York state passed a law that would allow lawsuits over long-ago claims of sexual assault.

Carroll said Thursday that a look at social media once the trial began revealed new slurs against her as people labeled her a liar, slut, ugly, old.

But I couldn’t be prouder to be here, she tested.