Donald Trump threatens absurd last minute stunt in E. Jean Carroll case
Yesterday Donald Trump all but forfeited the E. Jean Carroll trial when he canceled the planned testimony of his own expert witness and announced through his attorney that he would not be testifying himself. This left him no defense presentation at all – a sign that he knows he’s going to lose and is giving up any hope of even trying to win.
But now Trump is repeating a pattern of behavior we’ve seen from him time and again. He’s spent the trial tepidly doing nothing. And now that he realizes it’s too late to take winning action, he’s trying to overcompensate with a dramatic stunt.
Trump just told a gang of reporters that he’s cutting his overseas trip short and heading to New York so he can “probably attend” the trial and “confront” E. Jean Carroll. It’s far from clear what this even means. There is still no indication that he will attempt to testify. He would presumably be allowed to show up in court and sit there during the final phases of the trial. But as with everyone else in the courtroom, his behavior would be strictly under the judge’s control. If he were to act out in court and begin yelling at Carroll or anything along those lines, the judge would have him dragged out.
It’s possible Trump will instead attempt a stunt such as holding a press conference outside the courthouse, or some other nonsense. It’s also possible that this is all just empty noise, and he won’t actually end up doing anything.
But the bottom line is this: Trump can’t use some silly last minute stunt to magically turn this trial into a win. By putting on no defense, he’s inviting the jury to rule heavily in Carroll’s favor. And no stunts are going to change that. Trump is essentially forfeiting this trial, and he’s instead just trying to find a way to let himself pretend he somehow won.
