Following Trump’s social media storm—47 posts about E. Jean Carroll, who had previously prevailed in a case against him—conservative lawyer George Conway voiced concerns about Trump’s mental health. The interconnectedness of Trump’s crime, authoritarianism, narcissism, and psychopathy was emphasized by Conway, who questioned the lack of a national discussion on Trump’s mental health.

Following the rejection of his defamation case, Trump took to Truth Social to launch an attack on Carroll’s reputation and assert his ignorance of her. The court had already rejected Trump’s motion to postpone Carroll’s second defamation trial.

Protests on social media and events in the courtroom occurred at the same time; only two weeks before Carroll’s trial was scheduled to begin, the U.S. Court of Appeals denied Trump’s request to postpone it. Psychiatrist Allen Frances rejected Conway’s informal 2020 diagnosis of Trump with narcissistic personality disorder and warned against diagnosing Trump’s actions as a mental illness.