Right off the heels of his court appearance appealing a decision that held him liable for sexual misconduct, Donald Trump made a disturbing spectacle in front of TV cameras on Friday. Unabashedly, he dredged up several past allegations, possibly reminding voters of his string of largely under-reported or forgotten wrongdoings. Unsurprisingly, this aggressive, feasible defamation strategy is central to his political identity, exhibiting an audacious demeanor, remarkably characteristic of Trump.
During his appearance at the Manhattan office tower, Trump appeared to thrill in using explicit descriptions and narratives of the lawsuit filed by opinion columnist, E. Jean Carroll. This overt expression could subject the former president to additional legal repercussions from Carroll’s attorneys. Shockingly, he made these statements merely four days prior to his scheduled debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
The timing of his statements could hardly be misunderstood, with some places in the country about to start early voting and Election Day merely a couple of months away. While Harris is diligently preparing for the impending debate in private, presumably consulting with her advisers in Pittsburgh, Trump is performing his usual public spectacle. This clearly reflects the stark contrast in their campaign styles, which isn’t favoring the side of Democratic leadership.
In an attempt to balance the scales, Trump critiqued Harris for her reticence in media interactions, citing her scarce interactions with journalists. Ironically, the ‘press conference’ held by Trump on this day turned more into monologue than dialogue. For an hour, Trump expounded on the cases against him, with little to no mention of fundamental campaign issues.
‘I’m running for president, and I have all these cases all of a sudden come,’ he remarked. Describing the accusations against him as ‘fake cases’, he seems poised in his stance. It remains ambiguous how such focus on his legal predicaments could be advantageous for him, allowing him to win over the undecided voters. This approach is becoming particularly significant with the imminent high-stake debate expected to garner millions of viewers.
Trump’s tactic of reviving allegations against him echoes his stance in 2016, when he trivialized multiple allegations of physical assault against several women. That time, he dishonorably dismissed them as mere ‘locker room talk’, following a recording of his braggadocious claim about how he forced himself on women. But, on Friday, before the audience in Trump Tower, he presented an unsettling revisitation to a more bygone period.
The ex-president contended that women have pointed fingers at him simply because of his fame. He made several references to his multitude of followers back in the 70s and elaborated on his career in real estate and construction by the 80s. The lion’s share of the present-day voters, however, might not even have a memory of this supposed glory period.
At one juncture, he invoked the well-known ‘Page Six’ gossip section of the New York Post, positioning it as the internet of its time. Trump maligned Carroll’s lawsuit against him as ‘Monica Lewinsky Part II’, alluding to the infamous scandal involving past President, Bill Clinton. He emphasized the notorious garment integral in the impeachment proceedings against Clinton.
Trump suggested the idea of his alleged misdeeds were purely an outcome of bias towards their physical attractiveness. One allegation stemmed from an incident on an airplane back in the 70s, to which Trump responded, ‘she would not have been the chosen one’. Regarding Carroll, he claimed, ‘I’ve never even brushed past her. I wouldn’t have been interested in interacting with her at all’.
Despite all the noise, Kamala Harris, a practiced legal professional from California, has been significantly focused, often stating of her opponent’s criminal record, ‘I know Donald Trump’s type’. She might not have had a public itinerary on Friday, concentrating on preparing for the debate, but she has built her strategy partially around showcasing the case against him.
Trump’s supporters and even his aides have advocated for him to concentrate more on policy differences with Harris rather than on personal vendettas. But evidently, while Trump was holding his monologue, his political advisers were busy blasting the media for their supposed leniency towards Harris’s shortcomings during their call with the Republican congress members.
However, at that moment, Trump was surrounded by his lawyers, who also defended his cause. This followed Trump’s court appearance, where his attorney argued against a jury verdict requiring Trump to pay Carroll $5 million as compensation for alleged sexual abuse in 1996. Despite being awarded huge sums on two separate occasions, Carroll continues to be accused of fabricating the allegation addressed to Trump.
Trump continues to vehemently assert that Carroll’s claims are ‘made-up, fabricated stories’. This defiance might potentially earn him yet another lawsuit from Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, who had warned in March that they would consider pursuing further action if Trump continued with his defamatory statements.
Meanwhile, Trump is mired in a thicket of unprecedented criminal and civil jeopardy for a major-party nominee. With the lengthy list of felonies linked to alleged secret payments to an adult film actor to the steep fines he has been instructed to pay – all for lying about his wealth for years – Trump’s legal woes seem to be piling up. Add to this, his legal proceedings regarding his handling of classified documents, his discretion following the 2020 election, and his erratic behaviors during the U.S. Capitol unrest on Jan. 6, 2021 – none of which are scheduled to go to trial before Election Day
Trump Reminding Voters of His Own Misconduct Single-Handedly Tanking GOP Campaign appeared first on Real News Now.
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