The first criminal trial against a former US president had not begun this week and Donald Trump was already behind bars. It was not a good look for candidate Trump.
Every time he enters or leaves the Manhattan courtroom in the case of the People of the State of New York against Donald J. Trump, the accused Trump makes a straight line for the cameras, complain about what is happening. But to get to them, you must enter a security enclosure, like a small cell, made up of metal barricades similar to bicycle racks. They remember the barriers placed to prevent their followers from storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021, but that the rioters brandished like weapons against the police.
opinion columnist
Jackie Calmes
Jackie Calmes brings a critical look to the national political scene. He has decades of experience covering the White House and Congress.
Unfortunately, this trial is not one of two Trump faces for his role in trying to overturn Joe Biden's election. Neither is he for his alleged theft of top-secret documents when he left office.
This is the trial that many consider the least significant of the four pending against Trump. However, it could well be the only case for which we will see a verdict before November. And the charges — that she falsified financial records to disguise money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election, violating election laws — are nothing.
So the legal dangers for Trump are real, and when it comes to politics, the damage the trial could do to his candidacy is not only significant, it could be decisive.
Sure, he could be acquitted, although a mistrial is probably his best hope. And while a conviction would certainly cost Trump support, as polls suggest, that cost would likely be marginal in a polarized electorate. Still, that's where the 2024 election will be decided: within the margins in a half-dozen battleground states, just as in 2016 and 2020.
And regardless of the outcome of the trial, consider this: For perhaps two months, Trump is forced to be in the courtroom much of the week, largely silenced, diminished and at the mercy of a judge looking down on him. dais. (“I will not tolerate that,” said Judge Juan M. Merchán admonished at one point Tuesday, after Trump audibly muttered about a potential juror). His off-court arrogance keeps his MAGA faithful in thrall, but Trump is now on a general election campaign: he needs to broaden his support, not alienate voters with non-presidential petulance. and the mere presence of him in the penalty box.
The sordid facts of the case, involving Payments to Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal and Daniels, who will testify, will be repeated, likely with new details. That's not enough to attract undecided voters, especially women.
Although Merchan prohibited prosecutors from obtaining testimony that Melania Trump was pregnant when Trump allegedly had an affair with McDougal (too damaging for Trump, she said), nothing prevents journalists from noting that bad timing (as I just did), along with the The fact that Trump's alleged date with Daniels occurred shortly after the birth of his son Barron. (Given that history, who but Trump would brazenly put on a show of paternal devotion to falsely claim Monday That Merchan won't let him attend Barron's high school graduation next month?)
Fortunately for Trump, New York state law does not allow video cameras in the courtroom. However, the optics are terrible for the former president.
Let's start with his appearances behind those bars that look like prisons. Alternatively, they recall a playground, also an apt metaphor considering Trump's penchant for tantrums and youthful outbursts, which have earned him a gag order judge. Trump is prohibited from publicly criticizing witnesses, prosecutors, court staff, jurors and family members of Merchan and Manhattan Dist. Attorney. Alvin Bragg.
Prosecutors have already asked the judge to fine Trump for violating the gag order. Most defendants do not require such orders. For some wavering voters, it might be important that a candidate seeking to once again lead a nation based on respect for the rule of law is so disrespectful that gags and fines are almost routine.
Merchan has allowed photographers to take pictures of Trump at the defense table before the proceedings begin. The former president, who markets his mug shotHe is very willing to raid for each of them.
However, the photos have not been more flattering than Trump's performances before television cameras abroad. He looks old, haggard and swollen, the bags under his eyes protruding more than ever. His frowning pose does not convey the power that Trump seems to believe he conveys. He looks small sitting there, unusually mute and completely alone.
The court artists' sketches are no better, particularly those that show him taking a nap. In fact, the reports about trump repeated dozingfrom reporters inside the courtroom, were perhaps the biggest takeaway from the trial's early days and a politically fraught meme for Trump, 77, who incessantly ridicules Biden, 81, calling him “Sleepy Joe.”
night comics I had a field day, uh, one night; Political cartoonists were relentlessand, of course, the Biden campaign was quick to post mock from “Sleepy Don,” complete with a lullaby. the best line came from MSNBC host Chris Hayes: “If you call your opponent Sleepy Joe, you've got a job.”
In short, Trump in just two days practically erased the advantage he had over Biden on the age issue that weighs so heavily on voters' minds.
From the beginning, Trump has made his re-election campaign an extension of his legal fights, all centered around him and his grievances. For a while it worked; He edged out his Republican rivals for the party's nomination. Those days are gone. He is locked up. Whether he looks like a trapped bird or a cranky baby, he hardly projects the image most voters want in a president.
