Donald Trump: Classic or Dud?

xxp yeah the guy had answered that he'd never been arrested but they found that he had.

I think he looks bored, like he wants this to finish

To Trump, the trial and the verdict are only temporary stops on the road to a flurry of motions to dismiss and appeals to higher courts. The shorter the trial, the sooner he gets out of sitting in the courtroom. And he's not wrong insofar as that goes. To his thinking there's nothing irreversible about a series of guilty verdicts on all 30 or so felony counts he's charged with. Having a billion dollars (give or take) does weird stuff to your head. Combine that with having served as POTUS for 4 years, with literally millions of workers serving your whims and no wonder he's just bored instead of solemnly contemplating the precarious position he's in.

Per NYT:

Trump is walking out. Passing the reporters in the final row, he asks us, “Cold enough? Is it cold enough?” (It is.)

(This was for lunch break though I would be amused if he just got up and left while saying that and nobody else knew what to think.)

I was reading too fast and thought that said “Trump is passing out.”

he won't return from lunch, will get in a car chase in a Weinermobile

"We're all looking for the guy" etc.

did trump's people really ask rfk jr to be VP? that might be the rapture right there...

I believe RFK's affirmation more than the Trump denial

And when he said no of course they denigrated him on social media which sounds very much like team trump tactics

I think Trump dangles the VP spot out to lots of people just to see what he can extract from them

RFK did the same lol

don't wanna hear about RFK's dangle

a dangle in the grassy dingle

Well anecdotally a lot of support for RFK is coming from people who would other vote for Trump so co-opting him wouldn’t be the dumbest thing by the Trump campaign

If Trump was really going that direction, it makes it more likely he'll pick someone like Tulsi.

Trump panders to his base PERFECTLY. The critical component is how many self-described conservatives who see Trump as a truly horrible person will vote for him anyway, because he is the Republican nominee and therefore automatically the correct 'conservative choice' on the ballot.

Well that's essentially what Bill Barr said yesterday.

Sad to say, that reflexive voting pattern will no doubt deliver millions of votes for Trump, often in swing states. None of this is much of a secret to either party or anyone here. At thje national level we're mostly spectators. At the local level there's much more opportunity to make a difference.

Anyway, twelve jurors plus one alternate now selected; sounds like Merchan is aiming to have the rest of the alternates (six total) seated by tomorrow at least.

When it's going great, per NYT:

Todd Blanche, a defense lawyer, asked for the names of the first three witnesses before proceedings ended for the day. But a prosecutor, Joshua Steinglass, refused to provide them, saying it’s a courtesy they normally extend, but "Mr. Trump has been tweeting about the witnesses.” The judge responded: “I can’t fault them for that.” Blanche asks what would happen if he could guarantee that his client wouldn’t do so. “I dont think you can make that representation,” Justice Merchan says, sharply.

Mitchell Epner, whose judgment I trust, calls that a 'pretty significant sanction,' adding that while he has no idea how Merchan will rule on contempt next week, Merchan still 'just made it clear he believes that FPOTUS has acted in violation of the pre-trial order.' Again, what actually happens, who knows, but while Blanche has to be somewhat aware there's a 'give them enough rope' play happening, I doubt Trump does.

Fascinating scene. As Necheles queries their personal opinions, Trump is forced to sit down & hear several say they don't like his character.

Slumped back in his chair, arms folded, big frown, furrowed brow. Angry as people trash him.

He's longer surrounded by sycophants.

— Jose Pagliery (@Jose_Pagliery) April 18, 2024

he has months to come of average americans - prospective jurors - telling the court that they don't like him

My former student Jose Pagliery.

I can't help fear that one of his foot soldiers will slip through the voir dire and hang the jury.

[And yes, "hang the jury, hang the jury, hang the jury ..."]

And the songs that they constantly play/
They say nothing to me about MY trial

Beware, I bear more grudges than lonely high court judges ...

Considering the prevalence of social media and the penchant of the people using it to frequently and loudly proclaim their opinions on Trump, the kind of Trump fanatic most likely to slip onto the jury would be someone not on social media, whose opinions have been shaped by nonstop watching of FOX NEWS, viz. an old person.

Ain't singing for Biden
Ain't singing for Trump
I don't sing for nobody
Makes me look like a chump

that's it, i've seen enough

dud

In honor of Merchan, and of Pigmeat Markham's 120th birthday today

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohq9h6QIcHY

I haven't seen enough of him looking glum and dour with no snacks and not allowed to play poker on his phone

lol he’s going to be found guilty isn’t he

Merchan declines to approve the challenge to the Borowitz Report enjoyer

— Josh Kovensky (@JoshKovensky) April 16, 2024

I sure fucking hope so

How does a jury usual view the defendant repeatedly falling asleep in court?

Pro? Con? Jealous?

Holy shit, someone just set themselves on fire outside the court room?!

Meantime the six alternates have been chosen, we have a full jury selection.

Trump should self-immolate.

did that wake him up? xxpost

Outside the courthouse rather than the room itself per NYT:

A young man set himself on fire after dousing himself with a flammable liquid in Collect Pond Park, across from the courthouse. As onlookers screamed, bright orange flames engulfed the man.

He was in the area of the park cordoned-off for Trump supporters, around two dozen of whom fled screaming.

The heat of the flames of the burning man could be felt a hundred feet away.

The man threw multicolored pamphlets in the air before lighting himself on fire. It is unclear what motivated his action.

It took several minutes for police officers to rush to the scene. A detective who was early to arrive tried to smother the man — who had collapsed — with his coat to extinguish the flames. Soon, dozens of officers swarmed the scene and began using a fire extinguisher.

The man was still moving as officers knelt beside him and asked his name. He was loaded into an ambulance and taken away.

Classic NYT headline tease:

Twelve jurors and six alternates have been chosen in the Manhattan trial of Donald Trump. Outside the courthouse, a man set himself on fire.

there were bigly tears...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcmG2knXCKQ

The man threw multicolored pamphlets in the air before lighting himself on fire. It is unclear what motivated his action.

"I mean, I guess we could have read one of the pamphlets before filing this story, now that you mention it..."

Trump's lawyers find a potential alternates old social media posts, including one assailing Trump's "sociopathic incompetence."

Judge: Does that describe your feelings at that time?

"I wouldn’t say that’s far off-base," he says.

— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) April 19, 2024

Another one of his old posts said of Trump:

"I do actually believe that he’s the devil."

He says, "At that time, yeah, I may have thought that."

He's excused for cause.

— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) April 19, 2024

The man threw multicolored pamphlets in the air before lighting himself on fire. It is unclear what motivated his action.

did anyone read the pamphlet? might be a clue in there.

xpost

Also the rest of today is a Sandoval hearing, which translates as the prosecutors going "Oh, he says he wants to testify? Sure thing your honor, we'd like to ask him about all his other convictions on the record." (Among other things.) Judge has to sign off on it, thus the hearing.

Meiselas: What I’m hearing from credible sources is that Donald Trump is actually farting in the courtroom… I’m hearing it from actual credible people that as he’s kind of falling asleep, he’s actually passing gas and that his lawyers are really struggling with the smell. pic.twitter.com/wa6F3iRDgX

— Acyn (@Acyn) April 19, 2024