Donald Trump 'got what he deserves': House Republican reflects on E. Jean Carroll verdict

A Republican congressman on Tuesday rebuked Donald Trump after a Manhattan jury found the former president liable for defamation and sexual abuse in the E. Jean Carroll lawsuit.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-IL) told CNN Capitol Hill reporter Melanie Zanona that he believes Trump “got what he deserves.”

Bacon, a moderate who represents a swing district Joe Biden won in 2020, had previously said he wouldn’t support Trump in 2024.

“The jury spoke and I respect the jury,” Bacon told Zanona.

“I think he showed a lot of disrespect for the jury and the court. … The way he treated them, he got what he deserved.”

Bacon told Zanona he believes it’s time for the GOP to move past the former president, saying Trump is “too divisive and I think he would sink, he would not win the White House, he would probably cause us to lose the House and the Senate.”

Bacon isn’t the only Republican lawmaker to slam the former president over the verdict.

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) told reporters Tuesday “You never like to hear that a former president has been found in a civil court guilty of those types of actions.”

Asked if he could support a candidate who’s found liable of sexual battery, Rounds said: “I would have a difficult time doing so.”