Trump Never Tires Of Losing. This ‘Hail Mary Pass’ Ensures He Will Again

There’s a lot of things Donald Trump is not particularly good at. We all know he’s a sore loser because he’s still yelling that the 2020 election was “fraudulent” even though it’s been proven time and again that it wasn’t. We also know he’s not good at being kind or decent or any of the other things that make most of us human.

We do know he’s good at some things: He’s a faithful fascist. He was also good at trashing the U.S. economy (for the most part).

Now, however, he and his legal team are going to engage in something they have failed at routinely, and frankly, I don’t know how they have all the energy for this. Nor do I know why Trump & team never seem to learn that they lose when they file gag orders.

A quick glance at Google shows they have tried this time after time, but they are giving it another try, filing a new motion in his federal election interference case in the hopes of reversing the gag order, but many insiders are already saying this is a longshot, Newsweek reports.

This is the case that of course, led Trump to be indicted on four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. It’s merely one of four criminal cases Trump faces, having been hit with a whopping 91 felony charges, so he has more than his share of challenges as he continues to campaign for another shot at the White House in 2024.

As usual, Trump continues to portray himself as the victim (another thing he’s good at) and pleaded not guilty to all counts in all cases. He portrays this as an attempt to impede his campaign.

The gag order being challenged this time is one that Judge Tanya Chutkan implemented in October, against Trump and other “interested parties.” This gag order bars Trump and those “parties” from making public comments about Smith, his staff, court personnel, and any potential future witnesses and their testimony. Prosecutors argued for the order, saying it was necessary to protect the integrity of the judicial proceedings.

Earlier this month, a panel of three judges from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. kept the gag order in place for the most part but loosened it to allow for public comments about Smith only.

But in a filing on Monday, his attorneys went for broke, requesting the appeals court reconsider the appeal and using all 15 member judges to preside over the decision. In legalese this move is referred to as an “en banc petition.” Trump’s legal eagles argue that the gag order as it stands violates his First Amendment rights.

“The [appeals court’s] opinion holds that president trump must be silenced to protect trial participants from possible threats or ‘harassment’ from unrelated third parties,” their petition reads. “in doing so, the opinion conflicts with decisions of the supreme court and other circuits, warranting en banc consideration both to secure uniformity of this court’s decisions and because of the question’s exceptional importance.”

But one report from CNBC noted the new appeal is little more than a “longshot,” and that such en banc petitions rarely work.

“Trump has nothing to lose by seeking review from the full court,” adds former U.S. Attorney and legal analyst Barbara McQuade in an interview with Newsweek. “It’s a bit of a Hail Mary throw on the merits, but even an adverse ruling plays into his false campaign narrative that the courts are out to get him, too.”

So of course, Trump can continue to play the victim. Just like he’s been doing for years now. This even includes his hush-money payments where he continually denied his fling with Stormy Daniels, to January 6 and beyond.

Victimhood is likely part of a pattern for Trump, and Joyce Vance, another former U.S. attorney posited on X that Trump’s intention is simply to “delay, delay, delay.” More than a few other legal experts have also expressed this opinion when it comes to Trump’s numerous legal battles. They believe he’s trying to delay this until well after he possibly reclaims the White House so that he can use the power of the presidency to make the cases disappear.

“This is part of trump’s delay strategy,” wrote Dave Aronberg, palm beach county florida state attorney in a statement to newsweek. “he wants to push this trial past the 2024 election, which is why he is asking for a hearing before the full appellate court even though it won’t succeed.”

Presumably, Aronberg knows his stuff, so this may well be chalked up to another failure for Trump and his legal team. Because if there’s one thing Trump is good at, it’s failing.