Mainstream Media Outlets Mostly Ignore E. Jean Carroll’s Claim That Trump Raped Her

Mainstream media outlets largely ignored longtime columnist E. Jean Carroll’s rape allegation against President Trump.

On Friday, Carroll accused Trump of raping her in a New York City dressing room in the mid-1990s in an excerpt from her upcoming book published by New York Magazine.

On Sunday, the “big five” Sunday morning talk shows on NBC, CBS, Fox, ABC, and CNN all ignored the allegations. HuffPost reported that not a single guest was asked about the allegations, even though NBC’s “Meet the Press” aired an interview with Trump and CNN and CBS both hosted Vice President Mike Pence.

The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune did not have anything related to the story on their front pages Saturday, Media Matters reported. Only The Washington Post published the allegations on their front page.

The New York Times buried the allegations in their Books section.

Why isn’t Carroll’s allegation being covered?

While the network shows ignored her allegations, Carroll appeared on MSNBC Sunday morning to discuss her claims.

Host Joy Reid pointed out that her allegation was “relatively buried in this week’s news cycle.”

“In any other universe, in any other presidency, in any other news cycle, E. Jean Carroll’s bombshell revelations against the sitting president of the United States would have been the lead story all week long,” Reid said.

Over on CNN, The LA Times’ Shani Hilton told Brian Stelter that the allegation was “very much a part of the conversation on Twitter” for about a day but “two days later, it kind of feels like it’s faded away. And I think by the end of the day Friday, it really felt like here’s one more allegation in the long line.”

E Jean Carroll says Trump raped her:

In an excerpt from her upcoming book published in New York Magazine, Carroll, a well-known advice columnist, wrote that Trump raped her in the dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in the 1990s.

Carroll, now 75, wrote that Trump recognized her as “that advice lady” and asked her to advise him on what gift to buy for a “girl.” As they browsed the store, she wrote, Trump suggested she try on a lace bodysuit.

When they got to the dressing rooms, she wrote, Trump shoved her against a wall, pulled down her tights, and “forcing his fingers around my private area, thrusts his penis halfway — or completely, I’m not certain — inside me.”

Carroll is the 16th woman to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct.

In a statement to New York Magazine, Trump denied the allegations and claimed that he “never met this person in my life.”

The New York Magazine article was published with a photo showing him laughing with Carroll at an NBC party while flanked by his ex-wife.

 

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