Humans have a notoriously weak sense of smell, at least compared to our wonderful companions in the animal kingdom. However, whatever is left of the corroded ability remains incredibly powerful; a single scent can evoke wonderful memories of times long gone by or induce nausea in a matter of seconds. Our natural evolution is such that one of the quickest ways to die on the savannah was to ingest something poisonous or rotting, and thus we have a deeply embedded reaction to what it is we “smell” from time to time. Perhaps that is plenty of reason alone for many people, among them jurors, to have a strong reaction to Donald Trump’s presence. In short, it is increasingly well documented that the man, among many other faults, flat “smells.” And it may have been the tipping point in a recent trial that went against him.
E. Jean Caroll, famously the woman that, after Trump denied that he could ever rape her because “She isn’t my type” (As opposed to the women who are his type and thus he might well rape? What an odd and awful answer…), he went on to call her a “liar,” which has had her talking to the media more about her experience with Trump in the courtroom. It is not pretty, not pretty to see, nor, one would think, to smell.
According to a report in Rawstory, Carroll said:
“They were mesmerized, you have never seen anything like it,” Carroll said. “He never sat still, and he talked the entire time within earshot of the jury. He belittled Alina Habba, his own attorney. He would spit as he was talking. He didn’t smell so good.”
There are a lot of things that can sink a person in litigation, some of which shouldn’t matter in the least in a search for truth, and yet most certainly do. Being “uncouth” to the point of spit and smell is a sure way to test jurors’ ability to categorize real evidence versus the visceral.
Carroll also noted the difficulty Trump had in watching a woman deliver the final argument to the jury, which, given all we know about Trump, had to be almost as excruciating for him as his assault was to Carroll. If there is one fitting thing about the whole ordeal, it is that he got into this by considering himself a domineering man, and yet it ended with him dominated by women:
“He stood up with steam coming off his back and hot air blowing out his ears because Robbie Kaplan was giving the final argument, and she was asking the jury how much it would take to make him stop,” Carroll recalled.
“She drove him so crazy, he stood up in the courtroom and left. When a man is innocent, he doesn’t storm out of a courtroom; he stays and fights. He turned tail and stormed out of the courtroom. He lost right at that second. He couldn’t have looked more guilty.”
True. When a man is not guilty of the assault, he takes it all in as more sad, indeed, tragic, that it got to that point. It is only when one feels entitled to do the underlying act, or that the whole thing “isn’t that big a deal” to begin with (You know that he sat there likely thinking, “Why is she even mad? Things happen. It is an outrage that I am being put through this!”), that one reacts in a fury of self-righteousness.
Getting back to smell. I am often loath to aim this low. There are countless substantive real reasons to crack back on the man. This seems gratuitous. Plus, the elderly have certain issues that make a slight odor almost impossible to ward off (And none of us are getting younger) – so it can be a bit of a cheap shot. But it does make sense that such a trait would make a difference to jurors; it is a reminder of the intimate space he invaded, imposing himself not just physically in one of the worst ways, but also attacking other senses.
Some stick with you more than others. We have evolved to have deeply buried memories of things that present immediate dangers.
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You are so right, in that he didn’t help himself at all. His attitude and actions pretty much telegraphed to the jury and judge his mindset. I agree that body odor is not always something that can be helped. However, if reports are accurate, it sounds like he doesn’t bathe as much as he should. To me, this smacks of disrespect and no regard to others.
it is the odor of HATE
Stinky Donny.
Apt. On so many levels.