Trump's Former Lawyer Ty Cobb Calls President a 'Rapist' on Live TV, Forcing Anchor to Interrupt
Key Takeaways
- •Ty Cobb, Trump's former White House attorney, called the president "a rapist" on MS NOW's "The Weekend," prompting anchor Jonathan Capehart to interrupt and note Trump has not been convicted of that charge.
- •Cobb cited Judge Lewis Kaplan's 2023 order stating that the E. Jean Carroll jury's sexual abuse finding meant Trump raped Carroll in common understanding, though not under New York law's narrow definition.
- •A Manhattan federal jury in 2023 found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation of E. Jean Carroll, but not for rape as legally defined.
- •The exchange arose while discussing the Supreme Court's decision permitting Trump's "likely illegal" ballroom project, after the National Trust for Historic Preservation was found to lack standing to sue.
- •Cobb argued Congress is the institution positioned to check Trump's actions but has failed to act due to what he called Republican leadership's cowardice.
President Donald Trump's former attorney Ty Cobb stunned the panel of MS NOW's "The Weekend" into silence on Saturday morning when he called his former client "a rapist" on cable television, in front of millions of viewers.
Cobb, who served as a White House lawyer in Trump's first administration from 2017 to 2018 before becoming a persistent critic during Trump's second term, has attacked what he describes as the president's unconstitutional behavior and reprehensible character. On Saturday, he did not hesitate to run through a list of accusations against the president while discussing the Supreme Court's recent decision to allow Trump to proceed with building a "likely illegal" ballroom.
"I think that people need to recognize that when the founders created the Constitution, they expected that Congress diligently would work to control a president who was either not up to the task or, in this case, evil," Cobb said. "They didn't really draft the Constitution with the expectation that an informed electorate would elect somebody like Trump, a malignant narcissist, convicted felon, rapist, and somebody who was really out to feather his own nest and pursue all these vanity projects."
At that point, a rattled MS NOW anchor Jonathan Capehart interrupted Cobb with a heated warning and an anxious expression.
"Well, one, well, one, one thing, one thing, Ty. I just have to stop you because you just — you just called the president a, a, a rapist. And that is a legal thing that he has not been convicted of. So, we just got to be, be clear on that," Capehart stuttered.
"No, you're absolutely right. No, you're absolutely right. He has not been convicted of it. But the federal judge who oversaw the E. Jean Carroll trial said on the record that he was guilty of rape."
"No, no, no, no sexual assault," countered a flustered Capehart.
"No. Actually, Jonathan, you're wrong. I'll send you the site," Cobb insisted. "But that aside —"
"But finish your answer," Capehart urged.
"That aside, that the courts are lagging metric in, under the Constitution that we have, that they can only react," Cobb continued. "They can't correct problems before they occur. And they have to wait for things to mature and be brought before them by people who have the right to sue. And we've seen standing issues. We've seen other issues permit these projects to go forward, most recently with the ballroom. They concluded that the National Trust for Historic Preservation did not have the standing necessary to bring that suit. Perhaps others will bring it. But the one litigant that could bring all these cases and prevent what we're seeing is Congress. And Congress is doing nothing because of the cowardice of the Republican leadership. It's tragic. But they have let the country down."
The dispute between the two men traces back to the 2023 civil case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, in which a Manhattan federal jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation but, under New York law's narrow legal definition of "rape," did not find him liable for rape as charged. Days after the verdict, Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote in an order rejecting Trump's request for a new trial that the jury's finding meant, as a matter of common understanding if not the statute's definition, that Trump had raped Carroll — the on-the-record judicial statement Cobb was referencing.
What may have agitated Capehart is Trump's extraordinarily litigious nature, as the president has sued other news organizations for reporting provable facts. Trump sued the BBC over reports that even now threaten to pull his own children to the stand, and could force the president to reveal documents he is currently fighting to hide from BBC lawyers.
Trump has also sued the Wall Street Journal for reporting on a sexually suggestive card he doodled and gave to convicted sex-trafficker and friend Jeffrey Epstein. Trump even signed the card, with his signature forming the outline of a woman's body.
Despite the fact that the card actually existed, Trump did not hesitate to take the WSJ to court over it, and was later embarrassed by the release of the card bearing what appears to be his signature.
