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Trump lost his best possible juror in the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial: a man who thought the 2020 election was stolen

• A six-member jury was selected Tuesday in E. Jean Carroll’s second defamation case against Trump.
• Trump lost one of his best possible jurors earlier when the man said he thought the 2020 election was stolen from Trump and that Trump was being treated unfairly by the courts.
• The man — juror number 68 — was also the only one in the prospective jury pool who said he’d been to a Trump rally. 

As jury selection began Tuesday in E. Jean Carroll’s second defamation case against former President Donald Trump, Judge Lewis Kaplan asked the potential jurors a question: did any of them believe the 2020 election was stolen from Trump?

A man in a red sweater — juror number 68 — raised his hand. He and another woman were the only two out of the roughly six dozen prospects in the New York courtroom who raised their hands.

Juror 68 was also the only person among prospective jurors who said he had attended a Trump rally.

He was quickly booted, however, after the judge asked whether anyone in the jury box felt Trump was being unfairly treated by the US court system.

Juror 68 wasn’t sitting in the jury box. But he was so enthusiastic about voicing his opinion on the matter that he stood up while seated in the audience.

Kaplan dismissed him shortly after, meaning the former president likely lost one of his best jurors in the second Carroll defamation trial. A six-member jury was selected during the lunch break, and opening arguments will kick off later this afternoon.

A jury previously awarded Carroll $5 million in damages in May, after determining that Trump sexually abused her in the 1990s and defamed her in 2022 when he accused her of fabricating her allegations to make money.

Tuesday’s civil case is centered around determining if Trump also defamed Carroll in 2019 when he similarly accused her of lying about being raped.

Earlier in the day, a series of posts attacking Carroll were published on Trump’s Truth Social account while he was sitting — without his phone — in the courtroom.

Tuesday’s proceedings also came after the former president lost his star lawyer who was representing him in two cases: the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal probe into Trump’s business dealings, and Trump’s appeal of the May decision in Carroll’s first defamation case.

“At this point, I am not commenting on my decision to withdraw,” the lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told Business Insider. “If that changes I will let you know.”