There is one constant in Trump world and that is that the Republican standard bearer never fails to provide reams of material for all of us to gawk at. Since late 2015 we have not been living in a normal world, we’ve been living in his. And we are all the worse for wear for it. If you missed Trump’s New Jersey rally last night, here are some salient clips. 94 seconds is about all you can handle, anyway.
That's actually a great parody of a demented person. Oh wait…..
— IronSnowFlake (@sophiesno1) May 12, 2024
Trump spoke about Hannibal Lecter. I wonder if he’s got that character confused with the actor that played him, Anthony Hopkins? And I also wonder if Trump saw Hopkins other Oscar-winning opus, The Father, wherein Hopkins portrayed a man with dementia. Not that Trump would recognize that. It might go right over his head.
Trump’s back in court tomorrow morning. At the rate that people were leaving his sideshow last night, I don’t think that bodes well for MAGA protesters lining the streets. Here’s a great clip of Trump linking George Washington and Frank Sinatra in the same sentence. That’s not easy to do.
This is hilarious. Listening to this dope drone on with the same nonsense. Almost everyone split. https://t.co/Jg2rwFMphk
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 12, 2024
Speaking of Trump’s “worst president” comment….
As stated, this is the criminal defendant who goes into Day 15 of his hush money trial tomorrow morning. Nobody knows what to expect, everybody’s speculating.
Prosecutors acknowledged on Friday having little control over Mr. Cohen, who, despite their admonitions, has taunted Mr. Trump throughout the trial. In a recent TikTok video, Mr. Trump’s lawyers complained, he wore a shirt with a picture of the former president behind bars, prompting the judge to request that he keep quiet.
But prosecutors, who are offering Mr. Cohen nothing in return, have little leverage to rein him in. Unlike a traditional cooperating witness who trades testimony for leniency, he has already spent more than a year in federal prison for paying the hush money and committing other crimes.
That experience, contrasted with that of other Trump aides who avoided indictment or received pardons, has catalyzed his anger. Mr. Cohen, whose self-image remains inextricably tied to Mr. Trump, has transformed himself from lackey to antagonist, adopting a new identity, but with the same personality.
Craving public redemption, Mr. Cohen has fashioned himself as a standard-bearer of the anti-Trump resistance, seeking what he once called a “way to right some of the many wrongs I committed at his behest.” And since his prison stint, he has made money from their feud. There have been books bluntly titled “Disloyal” and “Revenge,” and a podcast called “Mea Culpa.”
Under questioning from prosecutors, his testimony could play out like a cinematic thriller, as he casts himself as a consigliere turned state’s evidence. This is the story Mr. Cohen told when he testified before Congress, where he estimated he had made 500 threats at Mr. Trump’s behest, and at a New York civil trial, where he accused the former president of fraud.
At that trial, the defense accused Mr. Cohen of perjury. Now, Mr. Trump’s team in the criminal case is expected to escalate those attacks, painting Mr. Cohen as a rogue actor whose fixes caused more problems than they solved. They have promised to seize on Mr. Cohen’s credibility and criminal record — Mr. Trump is fond of noting that he is a “convicted liar” — and portray him as a scorned underling seeking revenge against the former president.
Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office have already anticipated those lines of attack — and leaned into them. While the prosecutors introduced witnesses to corroborate much of Mr. Cohen’s account, they have invited those same witnesses to cast him as a bully, a nervous wreck and, as one person put it, a “jerk.”
The intent is to suck the air out of the defense’s attacks and desensitize the jury to Mr. Cohen’s baggage, turning him into an object of amusement. Already, his name has drawn smiles from some of the jurors, who will now evaluate his credibility for themselves.
I can’t see anybody being less credible than Donald Trump, but that’s the choice the jury will make. I think we can state one prediction with safety: Cohen’s testimony will steer the course of this trial. One way or the other, we will know a lot more when it’s over than we do right now. And since Cohen was Trump’s fixer for so long, and knows where the skeletons are stashed, I think it’s very likely that Cohen could blow this trial sky high, and persuade the jury to convict.
Look for late night, wee morning posts on Truth Social as Trump walks the floor over Cohen and what he might say in court. Trump can’t lash out directly on Truth Social, or it’s jail time, but he may resort to his usual blathering about how the DOJ was personally ordered by Joe Biden to ruin Trump’s life because he’s jealous, all the usual.
i will say one thing for Mr Cohen. He’s caught a lot more often in photos smiling and laughing than he used to be.
Released from being under the yoke of Trump seems to have made him happier, not just vengeful.
Cohen is clearly a hell of a lot smarter than Trump, he’s very quick and he’s not a sociopath. I think he’ll get the job done as long as he keeps his cool.
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