Eric Trump Deletes Tweets About His Dad’s Rape Trial After Judge Warns There Could Be Legal Consequences

Hours after Donald Trump was warned his social media attacks on writer E. Jean Carroll could result in charges against him, the judge overseeing the defamation and rape case against the ex-president was forced to threaten Trump’s son Eric Trump with the same consequences for the same behavior. It’s a real family affair!

Eric, Trump’s second eldest son, had reportedly taken to Twitter to conspiratorially tell his followers that Carroll’s “legal battle…is allegedly being FUNDED by political activist Reid Hoffman (co-founder of LinkedIn),” insisting that Hoffman is doing so “out of pure hatred, spite or fear of a formidable candidate.” Eric claimed that such a situation “an embarrassment to our country, should be illegal and tells you everything you need to know about the case at hand…” On Wednesday, Carroll’s attorneys brought up Eric‘s social media missive after Judge Lewis Kaplan had ruled that Hoffman’s financing of the case could not be used as evidence—and he was not amused by the former first son.

“I said something this morning about your client perhaps now sailing in harm’s way, conceivably with his son, if what I just heard is true,” Kaplan told Donald Trump’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, referencing the hot water he’s warned the ex-president would be in if he continued to defame Carroll online. “If I were in your shoes, I’d be having a conversation with your client,” he said, adding “there are some relevant United States statutes here and somebody on your side ought to be thinking about them.”

Trump the younger appears to have deleted his tweet but, of course, the internet is forever, and Twitter users had already taken a screenshot of it. For his part, the ex-president (and current presidential candidate) has refrained from mentioning Carroll on Truth Social today, after calling her lawsuit a “scam” and claiming her lawyer is a “political operative” on Wednesday.

On Wednesday afternoon, Carroll took the stand to recount the alleged assault in horrifying detail. She later said what transpired had prevented her from maintaining romantic relationships, and that she has not had sex since then. (The alleged rape took place nearly 30 years ago.) “I have lost out on one of the glorious experiences of any human being—being in love with another human being, cuddling and eating popcorn, cooking dinner, walking the dog. I feel I should be able to overcome it,” Carroll said.