Just before Donald TrumpWhen the criminal trial in New York began in April, I labeled the former president and current defendant a “scared, clucking chicken.”
I was right. Despite defiantly saying he would take a stand and testify in his own defense, Trump predictably chose the panic-to-poultry route. The defense rested Tuesday without calling on the man accused of paying off an adult film star to remain silent about their alleged affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
On April 12, the Friday before the trial began, Trump was at Mar-a-Lago and said, “I’m testifying. I’m telling the truth. I mean, all I can do is tell the truth.”
He didn’t testify. So in the same sentence in which he said, “I’m telling the truth,” he lied. Perfect.
Trump said he would testify. Of course not.
Despite ranting ad nauseam about how a legitimate silence order prevented him from defending himself, Trump ran from his first chance to raise that defense in court, leaving behind a cloud of dust, feathers and hypocrisy.
If the Republican Party’s presumptive presidential nominee had the guts, he would admit that I and the many others who knew he was too much of a poltroon to ever testify were right. But he won’t do that. He’s too busy cackling about all the ways he’s being persecuted.
Trump’s fans believed their man would take the stand
Trump’s supporters will certainly be let down by this show of lack of strength.
On April 20, a confident Trump fan said on a pro-Trump online outlet: “The man wants to go out there, look those jurors in the eye and fight. That’s what he does. … He goes up there, says what he has to say, and fights until his very last breath.”
Or, if he goes back in time and plays devil’s advocate, he won’t. He literally won’t do any of these things.
MAGA pays respect to their king: All Republicans MUST attend Trump’s criminal trial and yell at the media. These are the rules.
On Monday, Trump attorney Alina Habba, who is not representing him in the Manhattan trial, said on Fox News: “We know he wants to testify. He wants, he can, he (has) nothing to hide it all. He is absolutely willing to tell the truth.”
Of course he was willing to tell the truth! Trump just decided not to do it because when the Lord dealt courage, he got extra help from BUK-BUK-BUK-BAGOCK!!
A false promise to testify, and then complaint after complaint
Look, there were no sane legal minds suggesting that it would be a good idea for Trump to take a stand in this or any lawsuit. He’s a loudmouthed man who lies reflexively, and the prosecution would feed on him.
Is Trump sleepy? Trump is not sleeping during his trial – he is simply STRONGLY complying with the silence order
But beyond saying he would testify, Trump went out of his way to complain incessantly outside the courtroom about the perfectly sensible limited gag order imposed on him — the order that (sort of) got him to stop intimidating witnesses, jurors and the judges. family.
Trump clearly never understood what a gag order is
On April 19, Trump whined outside the courtroom: “Everyone else can say whatever they want about me. They can say anything they want. They can continue to make up lies. … They lie. They are real scum.”
“I am unconstitutionally gagged,” he crowed at a rally in early May. “He gagged me, so I’m not supposed to talk to you because he gagged me!”
On May 14, Trump brayed outside the courtroom: ‘The gag order must come. So if you ask me a question about the people we’re talking about, I’m not allowed to answer. Nothing like this has ever happened in the history of our country.”
The big, bold, brave GOP savior certainly has a lot of heartache.
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Trump could have testified – it was his big chance to speak his “truth.”
It all led to the moment when Trump could have testified in court, when he could have answered questions under oath and without a gag order, when he could have put his money where his mouth is. And what did he do? He clammed up and said nothing.
All the chatter and bluster was a sham. It was the realization of Shakespeare’s words: “It is a story told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, that means nothing.”
Trump ruthlessly tried to delay this process instead of getting in the ring and fighting. He complained all the time like an overtired toddler. He boldly said he would testify, but he didn’t.
To quote myself from over a month ago, Trump is indeed a “scared, clucking chicken.” Tough talk, loud cackling, soft feathers.
Prove me wrong.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump’s defense rests without him testifying in Manhattan trial. Weak.
