Maggie Haberman Drops Unintentionally Amusing Description of Trump’s Blockbuster Defamation Judgment

New York Times correspondent and CNN analyst Maggie Haberman told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that former President Donald Trump’s blockbuster defamation judgment is going to cost him dearly, but she said it funny. But probably not on purpose.

On Friday, Trump was hit with a bombshell $83.3 million judgment for defaming Carroll while he was president. A jury in an earlier trial had already determined he sexually abused Carroll in the ’90s in what Judge Kaplan described as a “rape,” as the word is “commonly” understood in one ruling.

On Monday’s edition of CNN’s The Situation Room, Blitzer asked Haberman about the judgment. Haberman did not have any insight from her network of Trumpworld sources, but she did have a turn of phrase that likely would have Michael Scott blurting, “That’s what she said!”

But she is correct; this is, in fact, “a lot of liquid”:

BLITZER: Let’s discuss with CNN Political Analyst Maggie Haberman. She’s also senior political correspondent for The New York Times. Maggie, thanks for joining us.

It was a very revealing interview on CNN This Morning from E. Jean Carroll, who, as you heard, is accusing Trump of seeing this case as just another campaign venue for him. Do you think that’s right?

MAGGIE HABERMAN: I think it’s right in part, Wolf. Look, I do think that he has used — looked at all of these court stops as campaign stops or at least part of his campaign because he has seen some political benefit to lumping them all together. This was a civil case. The New York attorney general’s case is also a civil case. Then there’s the four criminal cases, but for a lot of his voters, they’re indistinguishable one from the other.

I do think in part it was a rallying cry for his base, but I also do think that this involved a financial judgment and I think that he thought he was going to show up and try to, you know, sell the jury, essentially. It obviously did not work.

BLITZER: As you know, the jury awarded Carroll more than $83 million. And it’s only one of several legal battles that Trump is facing. The Trump Organization, for example, could soon be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars. What kind of impact is this judgment and the potential for more having on Trump?

HABERMAN: Look, Trump never likes parting with money. And so there is no way that he is especially happy at the moment, either about the E. Jean Carroll verdict or the judgment or the fact that he is going to have to pay some penalty that will be decided and announced in the coming days in the New York attorney general’s civil fraud trial.

What exactly it means for his company and his personal finances, we don’t know. But it doesn’t mean anything good. There is — you know, this is a lot of liquid. There’s always been a lot of question about how much cash on hand Trump actually has hanging both of these.

And he may not have to pay both right away. It’s not exactly clear how the New York attorney general penalty will work. We do know with Carroll he will have to put something up while he’s appealing but this is going to be costly.

BLITZER: It certainly will be.

Watch above via CNN’s The Situation Room.