I don’t think I’ll ever have a moment where I don’t believe deep in my soul that Donald Trump is a buffoon, an unhinged wingnut and an utter famewhore. So, yesterday’s story didn’t really “change” my opinion of Trump because my disgust is already visceral. Late Monday, The Daily Beast ran a story on some decades-old allegations that Ivana Trump made against Donald. She claimed that when they were married, he violently assaulted her, ripping out clumps of her hair and, as she said to friends, he raped her. The allegations came up during the Trumps’ divorce depositions and in a book called Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump. The author of the book stands by his reporting, by the way. But Ivana has softened – the Trump presidential campaign released a statement by Ivana:
“I have recently read some comments attributed to me from nearly 30 years ago at a time of very high tension during my divorce from Donald. The story is totally without merit. Donald and I are the best of friends and together have raised 3 children that we love and are very proud of. I have nothing but fondness for Donald and wish him the best of luck on his campaign. Incidentally, I think he would make an incredible president.”
The Daily Beast story also notes that Ivana Trump later softened her statement, reportedly saying when the 1993 book was about to be published that she “felt violated, as the love and tenderness, which he normally exhibited towards me, was absent,” but did not want her words “to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.”
Do I think it’s possible that two people in the middle of a very contentious divorce would accuse each other of exaggerated, despicable acts? Of course. Do I think it’s also possible that Ivana was telling the truth years ago and she simply doesn’t want to relive everything once again right now? Sure. If she doesn’t want to engage – not even to release her own statement without being prodded through her ex-husband’s campaign – I can’t blame her.
The Daily Beast story-retelling was horrific, of course, but it was also notable because the DB spoke to Trump’s special counsel Michael Cohen, and the reaction to the story from Cohen will go down in political history as how NOT to give a #hottake response to a sensitive issue. Cohen’s first response to the DB was to declare that raping one’s wife is not against the law, then his second reaction was to completely lose his sh-t and threaten the crap out of the DB reporter. So, packaged with the Ivana statement, the Trump campaign sent Cohen out to make an apology too:
Asked by Fox News about Cohen’s comments, a spokesperson said: “Mr. Trump didn’t know of his comments, but disagrees with him.”
Cohen apologized for his comments Tuesday, calling them “inarticulate,” and said the reporter’s question sent him into a tailspin.
“As an attorney, husband and father there are many injustices that offend me but nothing more than charges of rape or racism. They hit me at my core. Rarely am I surprised by the press, but the gall of this particular reporter to make such a reprehensible and false allegation against Mr. Trump truly stunned me. In my moment of shock and anger, I made an inarticulate comment – which I do not believe — and which I apologize for entirely.”
Rape… or racism. I was sitting here trying to think of why that seems so oddly worded. My guess is that Cohen thinks that the main arguments against Donald Trump are that he maybe raped his wife a few decades ago (but it was totally legal!) AND that Trump is a racist? We’ve offended poor Mr. Cohen’s delicate sensibilities by daring to discuss some stories that are a part of the public record, you guys. Next up, Michael Cohen is going to threaten to sue everyone into oblivion because we accurately quote Donald Trump’s thoughts on rape in the military.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
What the Eff is wrong with these people? Does having money do something to their synapses, create a ‘dumb pathway’ or something?
Wonder how much she got to retract.
+1.
+2
+1000
She is legally forbidden from speaking about their marriage without his approval! Basically she HAS to say this.
This.
this +2 he must have grabbed her by the hair again…
Yup. She was either paid or threatened.
It’s a perfect example of a nondenial denial. She never says the incident didn’t happen. She simply says some comments made by her were without merit. She never explicitly says what comments she’s referring. It’s a way to look like you’re denying something when you really aren’t. It’s a fuzzy statement that doesn’t mean much. she never explicitly said the attack didn’t happen.
Wasn’t she under oath the first time? Her statement now does sound vague, so my assumption would be that she was telling the truth back then. Her current statement could mean anything or nothing, if the reporter got even one tiny detail wrong she could say what she said. A true denial would be more detailed.
They all have to get along now because of the grandchildren. Plus, you know “The Donald” (remember that?) would make her life a living hell if she did not retract.
I doubt there was a pay off at all. Only very nasty threats.
As for rape in marriage, one name-Lorena Bobbit. That was an EPIC story in Virginia years ago.
Three was a financial settlement for the divorce action her statement was a part of and a non-disclosure agreement. This was tidied up long ago.
Trump’s divorce lawyer was quite competent.
My first thought was that she still lives in terror of this man.
I was thinking the same thing!
When I saw the headline, my first thought was “so he’s got something (bad) on her or he paid her off”.
Trump is Hilary Clinton’s dream opponent and a gift to the Democrats. He makes them look so good by comparison. Yet again I find myself inexplicably feeling bad for Jeb Bush. Caught between his brother’s “legacy” and Trump’s idiocy, Jeb can’t catch a break 🙂
“Caught between his brother’s “legacy” and Trump’s idiocy” bwaahahahahhah. Best line ever.
Thanks. I try 🙂
Naw. Trump’s just a plant to make both Hillary & Jeb look good by comparison.
The sad thing is that this is the guy leading the GOP polls. This man. This man who turned the entire GOP into a bunch of screaming middle-school aged children. Who turned everyone into a 12-year-old bully – calling each other names, releasing private information, etc. It’s like Mean Girls, but instead of funny, it’s sickening and depressing. I’m a hardcore Democratic liberal oversensitive killjoy, but I could always appreciate a good debate between an intelligent Republican and an intelligent Democrat.
If Ivana did lie, shame on her. That type of crap takes away from real rape survivors and gives further ammo for those “rape deniers” who think all women falsely accuse all men of rape.
If she didn’t lie, then there is some sort of benefit she gets out of retracting.
The attorney is an asswipe. Blaming a reporter for HIS own words just digs a deeper hole of arrogance and incompetence. Sorry, but can you imagine the stupid shit he must say in court, where things get much more heated?
Objection your honor, based on laws that aren’t laws. Overruled. Sorry your honor, the opposing counsel made me say it.
Plus, his reaction to the horrible things Trump did to his wife (and I believe the original version) was simply “that’s not technically illegal” which was wrong and also dismissive of the horror it was for her to go through. He didn’t say it never happened – he just falsely claimed it wasn’t rape. Just scum.
Also, since you are in the legal field, correct me if I am wrong, but ‘without merit‘ legally means without backing or substantiated support, or without proof. That doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen. Notice those words were chosen carefully, instead of a full statement indicating that the allegations were false or untrue. The fact that they can’t be substantiated might just mean that she will no longer substantiate them, as a witness or victim, due to contractual agreement or fear.
Very carefully chosen words. In the second paragraph, you will notice that she doesn’t deny that it happened or that something happened. She says she felt violated because the love and tenderness usually exhibited was absent. I guess so, when someone is raping you. I’m sure they had some agreement in their divorce about her talking about what happened in their marriage.
The pulling of the hair is way TOO specific. I guess you could dance around the act of rape, by different characterizations of a couples’ sex habits and consent of being ‘taken’ long term, but ripping clumps of hair out of someone’s head is violent, and not likely some fetish you can dismiss away. Especially since she didn’t say this was a common sex play practice.
Also she doesn’t say he didn’t assault her by pulling out handfuls of her hair. Please tell me people won’t actually vote for this guy. This is America, not a reality show.
PLUS A MILLION.
My friend works in a white-shoe firm, and keeps a little personal scrapbook of all the ‘non-apologies’ & ‘non-admissions of error’ she receives from attorneys. This bozo’s response and ‘non-retraction’ didn’t surprise me a bit.
She should post them on a website for Sh*ts and giggles.
She might just be trying to spare her kids and grandkids the pain of that kind of story. Or he might have paid her a hefty sum to make a statement.
I do remember that their divorce was particularly ugly so it also could have been an exaggerated story pumped up by lawyers-if so for shame.
I wonder how much he paid her to add this: “Incidentally, I think he would make an incredible president.”
That’s 1000 times more horrifying than the original story.
Depends on how you interpret “incredible” – LOL!
“That’s 1000 times more horrifying than the original story.”
Why yes, yes it is.
This is what you get with an opportunistic narcissist (her) and a psychopath (him).
Not going to judge her for downplaying what she said then, now. I believe what she reported he did to her was the truth but perhaps she’s moved on from it and revisiting it is reopening wounds.
So, she probably got more money in the divorce then by accusing him and even more money now for denying it.
I believe her and anyone who’s undergone a bad divorce where tensions have reached boiling point and people are slinging mud at each other will understand. Offences, insults, arguments, reactions etc can be presented out of context and exaggerated beyond any truth, it’s not that either person is evil or malicious but that the situation has brought out the worst in them and they’re temporarily crazy. Good people can react very badly and out of character, I think if you look at their relationship since the divorce once tempers cooled and hurts healed (he had an affair which broke her heart) you can see the truth of their relationship, respect, love and affection for one another.
I think you’re probably a much more understanding person than I am because all I can think is “I don’t care.” They were adults and for some behavior, there is no excuse. There has to be a line, even during the most acrimonious divorce. And she could’ve release what you wrote as a statement but she didn’t.
I completely disagree. My first husband cheated on me and abused me. There were times when I believe I could have cheerfully strangled him to death if I had been a violent person. I wished he would die, anyway. I hated him that much and hurt that badly. BUT I looked in the mirror and told myself that the only person I had to live with forever was me, and I WOULD conduct myself honorably and with integrity and dignity throughout this process. It was hard, but I did it and I’m proud of it. I would never have accused him of something he didn’t do. You’re either a liar or you’re not, and being upset is no excuse. That’s when your true character comes out.
I thought I read that part of her multi million $ divorce was that she agreed to not talk publicly about the marriage. I’m sure Trumps lovely lawyer reminded her of that.
Doesn’t her divorce settlement have a gag order attached to it? Me thinks Trump went to her, asked her to release a nice statement in return for a big hunk of cash. Or something else she’s been after. As for that lawyer…I think he did more damage then the reporter, and it’s not going to go away anytime soon. Trump/Palin as the GOP candidate for 2016 would be a hoot. Can you imagine if they won? The USA would be a laughing stock
I agree to a point. I highly doubt he “asked” her to do anything. He could have easily threatened the h*** out of her to make a comment.
@Hollz, I don’t believed Trump asked Ivana any thing. I believe he demanded that she put out a statement denying this or he would make her life a living he’ll. That’s the kind of person The Donald is. He’s a slash and burn kind of man, when he is not praised, jmo.
The lawyer sounds like a Fox news Republican. Of course he gets all riled up at allegations of rape and racism, it’s a sign of progess that women and minorities can talk openly about these things. Breathe deeply into a paper bag, Mr. Cohen, you can’t keep everyone in line so easily anymore, now can you boy?
Yeah, that’s just fantastic. So she’s lying now or was lying then. In both cases I suspect it’s about money which makes this whole thing so disgusting I can’t even put it into words. This is what rape-apologists always claim, that there’s a bottom line for people who claim they were raped or that it’s a matter of perception etc. etc. So when a woman with her name/position pulls sh*t like that, I get mad. Yes, on some level I understand that she wants this behind her, it’s been 30 years and her kids/grandkids will see this but we’re not talking about accusing someone of taking your cookie here. And then this little nugget: “Incidentally, I think he would make an incredible president.” Incidentally? WHAT?
It could be argued that everyone has a ‘price’. That price might be a reward system, or that price might be threat of punishment.
I don’t know that everyone has a price, most people probably do and most of us don’t ever find out. Thank god. But if she wasn’t afraid enough during her divorce, why would she be now? I would say if this is about her price, that price is money. She wanted it then and wants to either keep it now or get more. After all, don’t get mad, get everything.
That may or may not be true. I never liked Ivana, she always came across as brash and tacky, like Donald, so I guess it’s easier to assume that she is some type of gold digger, but there are nuances to people in their relationships, and how they set value systems on life and their own self-esteem. Maybe the price she would have to pay, (rather than the price she would receive) for not retracting was too big for her. Maybe she lied in the initial court documents, but ripping hair out of someone’s head is painful and violent. If that’s a lie, then she belongs in the elite club of liars, and she never addressed that in her statement. That she is boastful in her settlement may be belie what actually happened in her relationship. People save face in a variety of ways. Getting beaten up and kicked to the gutter for a new model of woman is humiliating.
Anyway, I imagine I would pay some price to rescue or protect someone I love. I can’t say I don’t have a price until I am put to task. Hopefully, I never have to find out.
We’ll never know her reasons but I’m trying to come up with a good one (better than money) for her to lie now. Assuming she didn’t lie then. Threat of punishment, sure. But as I said, she wasn’t afraid of it then so why now? If she’s protecting someone (I would think her family) then on a human level I understand it but … this is not peanuts!
My whole issue with this is not that I can’t imagine why anyone would do such a thing. I can, absolutely. I simply don’t accept it when it comes to accusations of rape. Whatever happened, this does not make her look good. I’m starting to see why they were married in the first place. God, ever time there’s a post about The Donald I feel like reaching for the Dettol.
ETA: Yes to the elite club of liars if the rape story wasn’t true. That was SO specific.
These types of retraction does such a disservice to rape victims everywhere. I believe the original story.
I was waiting for this. I’m just so grossed out by him, like looking at a cockroach sitting on a pile of poop.He needs to start a club with Sean Penn. The Abusive Leatherfaces or something. Ugh.
Side note, when I first saw the header I thought, Donatella doesn’t look that bad, then saw it was Ivana.
I’m still wondering what Trump’s end game is…
I’m appalled by the whole story. Many years ago, I was raped by my ex husband, only to have my own mother persuade me to not press charges, that it wasn’t “really” rape since I had been married. Today, she says she knows she did the wrong thing, but that she had been afraid for how “brutal” they would be on me in court. (Never mind that the rape itself was the most brutal, violent act I had ever imagined.) When I showed her this story–the one where Ivana claimed her ex husband raped her–she wept, remembering, and I did too. I had very much despised Cohen’s words about how rape cannot happen in a marriage, and now I am so aghast that, according to Ivana (whether she’s lying or not) the rape story isn’t true. This only makes it easier for people who deny rape, who say women “exaggerate”, to feel justified, and, sadly, there are too many people out there who do not think of spousal rape as “real” rape. This type of thinking goes back to when a woman was a man’s property, and so once he married her, he could do whatever he wanted w his “property.” Supposedly, we have come a long way since then, and we HAVE–but this residual, barbaric line of thought has not been completely eradicated, as Cohen’s words reveal. For Mrs. Trump’s sake, I hope the rape story IS false, but I have a strong feeling it’s not, and if it is false, then shame on her. What a depressing, ugly story all around.
Four bankruptcies and two divorces. He truly is the perfect Republican candidate for who not to elect.