Trump’s lawyer: Comments about sexual harassment accusers shouldn’t be judged literally
Kasowitz also argued that Zervos’s complaint should be dismissed because her original allegations against Trump were not true and, in addition, because Trump’s campaign-trail statements were protected by the First Amendment. A certain level of hyperbole is to be expected in the heat of a political campaign, he wrote, and such statements are legally protected speech.
During the campaign, Trump said the women who accused against him of inappropriately touching them were putting forward “made-up stories and lies” and “telling totally false stories.” Kasowitz argued those statements and others could not be considered defamatory but instead were “nothing more than heated campaign rhetoric designed to persuade the public audience that Mr. Trump should be elected president irrespective of what the media and his opponents had claimed over his 18-month campaign.”
.. But he’s making a legal argument that Trump’s comments should be held to a different standard because he was a candidate for office. Basically, he’s trying to move the bar for defamation higher, even if Trump’s comments were inaccurate. Which, again, he’s saying they’re not.
.. In effect, he wants Trump’s words to be taken seriously, not completely literally.
.. Trump’s comments about his female accusers, it bears noting, often went far beyond just saying they made up the stories. He called them “horrible, horrible liars” and called one of them a “crazy woman.” He repeatedly seemed to suggest they weren’t attractive enough for him to have done the things they accused him of. “You take a look. Look at her. Look at her words. You tell me what you think. I don’t think so,” he said. He urged supporters to look up another woman’s Facebook page and said she “would not be my first choice.”