George Conway calls Trump an ‘evil man’ with ‘no conscience’ after defamation verdict

by Lauren Irwin - 01/27/24 10:08 AM ET

Conservative attorney George Conway railed against former President Trump, calling him an “evil man,” after a jury ruled Trump must pay columnist E. Jean Carroll for defaming her by repeatedly denying her sexual assault allegations.

“He’s somebody who can’t control himself,” Conway told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Friday, echoing rhetoric from the judge presiding over the case. “And, he can’t control himself because he’s a deeply disturbed, a morally bereft human being who has no conscience, has no morality, has no empathy, has no remorse and is sadistic as we saw during the trial.”

Trump was ordered to pay Carroll a total of $83.3 million in damages. Broken down, the former president owes $11 million for a reputational repair program, $7.3 million in additional compensatory funds and $65 million in punitive damages.

The jury’s decision Friday marks the second time Carroll has won damages from Trump at trial. She previously earned $5 million from a verdict last year that found the former president liable for sexually abusing her in the 1990s and defaming her over a separate comment.

Trump has vowed to appeal the “ridiculous” defamation ruling, which Carroll and her lawyers have touted as a “great victory.”

Top Stories from The Hill

Conway, the soon-to-be ex-husband of former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, said the jurors saw that he had “nothing but contempt” for Carroll, and “libeled and defamed” her many times.

The latest trial became intertwined with Trump’s primary campaign — where he remains the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination — beginning the day after he won the Iowa caucuses and continuing past his win in New Hampshire. While he was not required to attend trial, the former president made a point of taking time from the trail and showing up to the New York courtroom.

Conway said it’s “disturbing” that people have made the trial about politics.

“Many of them in the upper reaches of his political party know better, they know who he is. They talk about who he is behind closed doors,” Conway said in the interview, which was highlighted by Mediaite. “They know he is an evil man, they know he is a sick man.”

He continued, saying the politicians won’t go on the record about Trump’s behavior and argued that it’s “about time” they tell the truth that they have covered up “for a sexual predator, a criminal thief, a man who does not deserve to hold any office, let alone the highest office in the land.”

“But this is, again, it’s not about politics. It’s about right and wrong,” Conway said. “And people need to start looking at it that way.”

Conway’s name had been mentioned in the trial. When Carroll came forward with her allegations against Trump in 2019, the lawyer said he ran into her at a cocktail party where he advised she file a defamation suit and helped her find her lawyer.