E. Jean Carroll, an 84-year-old journalist and author, recently warned that "older women are often underestimated, but they are powerful in their own right." Carroll is best known for successfully suing Donald Trump in 2020 for sexual assault, marking a historic moment in U.S. legal history. She alleges that Trump assaulted her in a fitting room at a New York department store in 1996. Her account is detailed in her new book, Not My Type: The Woman Who Bowled Donald Trump, which is set to be published in France. During a recent interview on the French radio station France Inter, she spoke about the strength of older women and drew parallels between her experience and that of Gisèle Pélicot, a French woman who gained international attention for defending herself against multiple men, including her husband, and securing prison sentences for them. Carroll's legal battle against Trump was a landmark case. She filed two lawsuits against him, and in 2020, a New York jury ruled in her favor, ordering Trump to pay nearly $90 million in damages. The incident she described took place in 1996 at Bergdorf Goodman, a high-end department store in New York. According to Carroll, Trump approached her outside the store, claiming he wanted to buy a gift for a girl. He then invited her into the store and led her to the lingerie section, where he asked her to try on a transparent body suit. When she entered the fitting room, he locked the door and assaulted her. In the aftermath of the incident, Carroll said she struggled with the emotional impact, stating that she "was never again able to flirt with a man." She also prepared meticulously for her trial, cutting her hair and styling it as she did in 1996, even wearing the same outfit. She expressed concern that people might not believe an older woman could be a victim of sexual assault. She also noted that Trump's behavior—his attraction to women and the way it affected his public image—played a role in his 2016 presidential campaign, when several women came forward with similar allegations, yet his poll numbers still rose. Carroll described the broader issue as a "centuries-old problem," where men, when attracted to women, may act on those feelings inappropriately. She emphasized the need for a new kind of leadership, one that stands up to such behavior, and suggested that the future may bring a powerful older woman who will rise to challenge such figures.