Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez faced heavy criticism on Friday after calling US President Donald Trump a “rapist” in a social media post.
“Wow who would have thought that electing a rapist would have complicated the release of the Epstein Files?” she wrote on X.
Her comment referred to the ongoing debate over the Epstein case, after the FBI and Justice Department issued a joint memo declaring the investigation officially closed. The memo said Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in jail and found no evidence of homicide.
Ocasio-Cortez suggested that electing a president with a history of sexual assault allegations made it more difficult or politically sensitive to fully release and investigate the Epstein case records.
Her tweet quickly went viral garnering over 11 million views. It sparked strong backlash from Trump supporters. Many accused her of defamation, pointing out that Trump has never been criminally convicted of rape.
One user expressing anger commented: “Donald Trump has not been criminally convicted of rape. As a Congresswoman, with such broad reach, you should be aware of this and act and speak appropriately. This is defamation.”
Another wrote: “If Trump is a rapist, then surely he was convicted of rape in a criminal court and you have evidence of that conviction, right? If not, then this is defamation.”
Journalist E Jean Carroll accused Donald Trump of raping her in the 1990s. She said he attacked her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan around 1995 or 1996.
In 2023, a civil jury did not find Trump liable for rape under the legal definition used in the trial, but did find him liable for sexual abuse. He was ordered to pay Carroll $2.02 million in damages for sexual assault and another $2.98 million for defamation, totalling $5 million, Al Jazeera quoted.
Last month, the public feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump intensified after the Tesla owner made a striking allegation against the US president, claiming that Trump is mentioned in the Epstein files. He added that this is the reason they were never made public.
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