Hutchinson: Assault verdict another sign of Trump’s ‘indefensible behavior’

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R), a presidential candidate, said a jury’s Tuesday verdict finding former President Trump liable for sexual abuse is another sign of Trump’s “indefensible behavior.” 

Hutchinson, one of the few people in the Republican Party who have openly criticized Trump, said in a statement after the verdict was released that the jury’s findings should be taken seriously. 

“Over the course of my over 25 years of experience in the courtroom, I have seen firsthand how a cavalier and arrogant contempt for the rule of law can backfire,” he said. “The jury verdict should be treated with seriousness and is another example of the indefensible behavior of Donald Trump.” 

A jury found after a two-week trial that Trump sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and defamed her when he called her a liar over her account of what happened. The jury did not find Trump liable for rape as Carroll alleges, but he was ordered to pay about $5 million in damages to her stemming from the findings on sexual abuse and defamation. 

Trump has denied any wrongdoing related to the case. 

“I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE – A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!” he said in a post on Truth Social. 

Hutchinson has positioned himself as a critic of Trump in the race for the Republican nomination. He called on Trump to drop out of the race at the end of March after Trump was indicted in Manhattan in District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s probe into the 2016 hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. 

Hutchinson also slammed Trump as being responsible for taking the GOP “back to bitterness,” saying his goals for serving as president are more about “getting even with his political enemies than leading our country.”