The first reaction to Tuesday’s unprecedented verdict finding a former president and current White House candidate liable for sexual abuse offered no reason to suggest that Donald Trump’s position as the frontrunner for the GOP nomination is under any immediate threat.
But some of his GOP critics raised questions about his fitness for office that are certain to be at the center of the next general election if he is the Republican nominee.
“That and several other things cause me to question whether he’d be the best nominee for the party,” North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer, who has not yet endorsed, told CNN’s Manu Raju.
The unanimous verdict could deepen his vulnerability among key voting groups, including women – among whom the GOP needs to improve to win back the White House.
“I think he would sink. He would not win the White House. He would probably cause us to lose the House and the Senate,” GOP Rep. Don Bacon told CNN’s Melanie Zanona. “I would see very dark clouds on the horizon if he is the nominee,” added Bacon, who represents a Nebraska district President Joe Biden won and has already said he will not support Trump for the nomination.
The jury found Trump sexually abused former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll in a New York Department store in 1996 and that he was liable for battery and defamation, while awarding her $5 million. The unanimous jury verdict was vindication for Carroll and offered a symbolic win for other women who have made assault allegations against the president. Trump, who has denied all wrongdoing, immediately denounced the trial as a witch hunt and said he didn’t even know Carroll. He said later Tuesday evening that he will appeal.
For most of modern US history and for most candidates, Tuesday’s developments would raise potentially insurmountable questions of viability. Many White House…
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