On Tuesday E. Jean Carroll won her defamation suit against TFG. It was a huge piece of good news in a timeframe where we’ve been hit with a lot of bad news. And that good news came a day before TFG’s sure-to-be awful town hall on CNN.

I was an avid ELLE reader in the 1990s, and I was of course a huge fan of E. Jean Carroll and her advice column. Her writing was funny and engaging, and she also gave good advice. She was a huge celebrity in the writing world. If you didn’t live through her heyday, here’s a thread that captures all the things she did:

CARROLL: When E. Jean Carroll talks about the loss of her reputation, it's hard for Millennial, Gen Z, and frankly, even Gen Xers like me, to fully appreciate what she lost. Yes, she was an advice columnist for @ELLEmagazine. But she was also the stuff of journalistic legend. 1/

— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) April 28, 2023

And now she’s won her defamation suit against TFG. She’s incredible.

Meanwhile over in MAGAland they’re fixated on the jury’s rejection of the rape defamation charge. It’s funny because the part of the reason for that is that Carroll wasn’t absolutely sure whether TFG’s (ahem) member that had penetrated her, or one of his short fingers. I’m not sure that that’s something TFG would like highlighted, so I’ve highlighted it here.

Last week I wrote about CNN’s decision to host a town hall for TFG and how it was unlikely to be a boon for democracy. Maybe in the hands of actual journalists the event could be an attempt to hold TFG accountable, live on TV. Imagine a section of the question time set aside to talk to him about his tendency to sexually assault women. But we can’t have nice things, so that’s not going to happen.

Instead we’re going to get TFG ranting and raving about everything, constantly lying, and once again sending the message to violent people that violence is the answer. After all of the domestic terror attacks during his administration, the 1/6 insurrection, his disgusting comments about how he treats women he meets, and his new branding as a sex offender, you would think someone at CNN would see beyond the eyeballs and the clicks.

In the meantime we have Tuesday’s victory to savor for a little while longer. I’ll close with a relevant clip from Jimmy Kimmel’s interview with Stormy Daniels. You’ll see why.