Dem
51
GOP
49
One wonders, these days, where the legitimately enraged Donald Trump ends, and the reality TV star Donald Trump begins. We have absolutely no doubt, as we have written many times, that the rage is real. But there's a performative element to it, too. Nobody can be that angry that much of the time.
We are reflecting on this right now, in particular, because yesterday was the day that Trump testified in the (second) E. Jean Carroll trial. He only lasted for 3 minutes on the stand (a level of endurance that surely came as a surprise to Stormy Daniels). Before being cut off by Judge Lewis Kaplan, Trump did manage to communicate to the jury that he thinks Carroll is a liar (although the statement was then struck from the record). In addition to his temper tantrum testimony, Trump also popped off from the gallery. He spent much of the evening before his appearance, and also much of the day, excoriating Carroll on "Truth" Social. In fact, at one point, he posted 37 different attacks on Carroll in the span of just 20 minutes. He was definitely rocking around the clock.
Again, we can't believe anyone, even Donald Trump, is THAT unhinged. And certainly there is much about his actual courtroom behavior that is both calculated and performative. The very clear message, for his followers, is that he is a strong man, so strong that he does not yield to the law, he does not yield to some judge, and he certainly does not yield to a woman who says mean things about him.
The trade-off here is that Trump is encouraging the jury to teach him a very expensive lesson. What remains unclear to us is how someone who loves money that much is willing to pay that price. Does he believe that somehow, some way, he'll be reelected as president, and then he can "fix" it? Does he think he can drag things out so long that the money won't come due until after he's dead, and it's the kids who get to take it in the teeth? Or is he at a place that he now loves power and influence even more than he loves money? Could be any of these, we suppose.
As long as we are on the Trump legal beat, we'll also note that Trump crony Peter Navarro was sentenced to 4 months in prison yesterday for defying a 1/6 subpoena. Steve Bannon was convicted on the same thing a year ago, and still hasn't seen the inside of a crowbar hotel, so Navarro may still be a long way from actually serving time, depending on how willing he is to keep fighting. (Z)