In mid-April, as Donald Trump’s first criminal trial was underway, The New York Times published a good fact-checking pieceexplaining that the former president relied on “quaint hyperbole, defended his conduct with erroneous comparisons and launched false attacks and unfounded accusations against both opponents and judges”.
Six weeks later, as the Republican’s trial comes to an end, it is striking how little has changed. The Washington Post published a fact-checking report own:
The report then went on to chronicle a series of falsehoods that Trump presented to reporters and the public before closing arguments.
At first glance, this may not seem especially notable. To know anything about the former president is to know that he lies uncontrollably about matters big and small. Facing his first criminal trial, it would have been much more surprising if the suspect no trying to mislead the public about the case.
But reading the Times and Post reports, it’s interesting to see how little Trump’s lies evolved during the process. Over the course of six weeks, after having had the opportunity to hear his own defense lawyers present their best arguments and present their ostensibly strongest arguments, the Republican latched onto the same discredited nonsense in late May that he sold in mid-April.
Trump claimed, then and now, that his indictment was the result of a conspiracy orchestrated by President Joe Biden. There is literally no evidence to support such a claim, but the defendant desperately wants it to be true, so he pretends it is true.
Trump claimed, then and now, that Judge Juan Merchan is “corrupt” and “conflicted.” This too has collapsed under scrutiny, although the presumptive Republican Party nominee continues to repeat the claim daily.
Trump claimed, then and now, that prosecutors should have brought the case sooner, which is not as absurd as his other claims, although if the defendant is looking for someone to blame for the delay, he should start with his hand-picked former attorney general.
Trump has claimed, then and now, that a court-imposed gag order prevented him from speaking openly about the case, which continues to be quite hilarious given that he speaks openly about the case every day.
Stepping back, there are effectively two parallel efforts unfolding simultaneously. On the one hand, there is obviously the trial in Manhattan Criminal Court. On the other hand, there is what is known as the “court of public opinion”: Trump is, after all, a candidate for public office, trying to persuade voters just as his defense lawyers try to persuade jurors.
But in most cases, Trump’s case is even weaker than his lawyers’. He put together some lies six weeks ago, watched the trial, and then recycled the identical lies.
Is it any wonder why most Americans believe Is the former president guilty?
This article was originally published in MSNBC.com
