Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) on Wednesday declined to say whether he accepted as legitimate the verdict by a jury in New York finding that former President Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and owes her $5 million in damages.
“That’s about presidential politics and that will all be settled in the primaries next year,” McConnell said when asked about whether the jury’s verdict, which also found Trump liable for defaming Carroll by denying her claims of sexual abuse, was legitimate.
McConnell said it will be up to voters, not him, to decide what the jury’s verdict means.
“I don’t have any observations about it, the American people are going to have to decide, particularly Republicans and Democrats who they want to run for president,” he said.
News of the verdict decided by a jury of six men and three women has been met with mixed reactions from Republican senators.
Asked if the verdict would make it tougher for Trump to win the general election if he is the Republican presidential nominee or tougher for Senate GOP candidates to win if Trump’s atop the ticket, McConnell demurred.
“There’s no question the presidential race is going on pretty early and the Republican primary voters are going to determine sometime next year who they want to be the nominee and I don’t have any advice to give them,” he said.
