A CNN NewsNight panel went off the rails when a pro-Trump guest trashed E. Jean Carroll as “kind of crazy.”
The panel was discussing the effects of the Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity when President Donald Trump’s case with Carroll was brought up. That’s when Terry Schilling cut in to defend the president, sparking a fiery debate with the table.
Watch:
“This is lawfare!” he shouted, insisting that Carroll was unable to provide any evidence of her claims against the president. “No other president has had this type of lawfare thrown at them.”
No other president has gone forward and been found civilly liable for sexual assault. What are you talking about?” asked former Democratic congressman Isaiah Martin.
“Hold on, hold on, guys, hold on one second. Terry, you’re describing this as lawfare,” host Abby Phillip jumped in, trying to calm the situation before it could get out of hand.
“Yes,” Schilling confirmed.
“Even though this is an individual bringing a suit against another,” she clarified.
“Without any evidence. There was no police report, there was no —” Schilling attempted to respond.
“So, I mean, my understanding of lawfare is. But hold on. My understanding of lawfare is this idea that it’s the law, that is, you know, the institutions of the government —” Phillip began explaining.
“No, it can be weaponizing the government,” he asserted.
“This is a person who has an allegation against the president. She took it to court,” Phillip said of Carroll.
“She couldn’t remember the date; she couldn’t remember the year,” Schilling pointed out.
“She was; it was heard by a jury. And this was the judgment. So which part of that was rigged against him?” Phillip asked.
“So there was no evidence for it —” Schilling said before being drowned out by crosstalk.
“Apparently the jury thought there were,” said fellow panelist Christine Quinn.
“Right. You can cherry-pick juries. You can cherry-pick courts that you choose to fight here. This was all lawfare,” Schilling repeated. And yes, private individuals can absolutely weaponize the legal system against people in power like President Trump. I find E. Jean Carroll’s claims to be crazy. I think she’s kind of crazy, frankly. Like if you see her house she’s been —”
“She’s been well, yes, but the whole thing is, is that he called her a liar. You might find it to be that, but a jury didn’t, right?” Phillip interrupted.
“If I was falsely accused of this. I would be fighting the same way,” he said.
“Unfortunately, in our system, that’s how this works. You go before a jury and they decide whether or not they find the allegations to be credible or not. And it’s not a criminal case. So the bar is not, you know, is he guilty of a crime? The bar is something much lower than that,” Phillip explained.
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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