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Five Questions with E. Jean Carroll

Advice for the Lovelorn

Joyce Vance

Mar 20

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I’ve had the same conversation on repeat with friends lately. A lot of people seem to have lost friends over politics. It’s unfathomable, really, but increasingly, Donald Trump and how people react to him is as much of a red line in our personal lives as it is in our politics.

It’s a tragic side effect of the Trump administration.

The circumstances are different, but the theme is the same. Longtime friendships abandoned. New relationships cut short. Some friends have mentioned not knowing what to do when people they’ve been close to for years sit on the sidelines, unwilling to do something, anything, while democracy hangs in the balance. And people want to know what they should do.

Unfortunately, I am not an advice columnist. I do not have answers in this area. In fact, like many of you, I have questions. (When you write a bestseller on saving democracy, interesting things happen).

Fortunately, I do have a good friend who’s an advice columnist, so we turn to her tonight. E. Jean Carroll wrote the "Ask E. Jean" column in Elle magazine from 1993 through 2019. She needs no introduction to Civil Discourse readers, who know her as the powerhouse who took Donald Trump to court and won, to the tune of $83.3 million dollars. (He said she was lying when she accused him of sexual assault. Two juries found in her favor.) Read on for what she has to say on the topic of Trump and damaged friendships. It was just the wake up call I needed!

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