When his criminal trial was about to begin, donald trump told reporters they should expect to see him on the stand. “Yes, I would testify, for sure,” the defendant declared. “I am testifying. I tell the truth, I mean, all I can do is tell the truth.”
The language that the former president repeated more than onceseemed categorical – which made it all the more remarkable when Trump and his defense team I started hedging last week.
Republican critics, hoping to see him give testimony that would almost certainly make their problems worse, did their best to try to convince him to testify. Third Way indeed invested in a 30-second ad which concluded: “Take a stand, Donald, or admit you are a coward.”
Did not work. Like my MSNBC colleague Jordan Rubin explained:
It was hard not to wonder if the alleged criminal would explain why, exactly, he didn’t testify after saying he would. But at least so far, Trump has not clarified the matter.
During a relatively brief question-and-answer session with reporters yesterday at Manhattan Criminal Court, the Republican was asked specifically about his decision not to testify. Trump simply walked away, ignoring the issue.
The public is left with a dynamic in which the defendant had a lot to say about the case online, in interviews and outside of court, but given the opportunity to tell the jury his side of the story, Trump hesitated.
Jurors shouldn’t care. Voters, on the other hand, can.
In fact, for all the Republican’s tough talk and chest-thumping, Trump has a problem when it comes to actually following through on his bravado. After declaring, “I’m testifying,” the former president not only didn’t keep his word, he also couldn’t explain why he didn’t keep his word.
Following previous coverageThere’s no great mystery as to why: Trump would share his side of the story under questioning from his own lawyers, but the moment he faced prosecutors, the former president ran the risk of lying under oath, losing his temper and lashing out wildly, while while also inviting another contempt citation.
Facing a series of brutal questions about his alleged sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels and his treatment of women probably wouldn’t do him any favors either.
The set of circumstances is eerily familiar: Trump and his team continue to understand that he can, and often does, get away with public mistakes, but it is much more difficult when he is under oath and facing the prospect of real consequences.
The former president likely realizes he will have to endure months of mockery about “cowling” and breaking another promise, but he also knows that taking a stand and helping prosecutors would have been worse.
This post updates our related previous coverage.
This article was originally published in MSNBC.com
