NEW YORK — Stormy Daniels was almost done testifying. She was showing signs exhaustion after hours of withering cross-examination from Trump attorney Susan Necheles, who prompted Daniels to describe her open hatred of Trump, her encounters with the paranormal, and her “Make America Horny Again” strip tour.
Frist, and I repeat:
Yeah. So?
Hopefully the Judge or Jury Foreperson will make it clear to the Jurors that Cohen’s honesty was not on trial nor was Trump’s biz prowess, real or not. Stormy’s profession was not on trial.
Did Trump pay her off? Yes or No.
Was it done to improve his shot at winning an election ( a campaign effort )
Did he structure the repayment to Cohen in order to avoid detection by the FEC?
That is all that was on trail.
It was the most popular Television shown evahhh…
Leading to this…
The details behind Cohn’s mentorship are well-known at this point, notably how he taught Trump the three key components of what would become the Reality TV President’s standard operating procedures: attack, deny, and turn every defeat into a victory. To see them acted out in a story that takes its audience’s knowledge of the eventual endgame for granted, however, still leaves you feeling unsettled, enraged, and in desperate need of a steel-wool scrubdown.
The sheer amount of broadly depicted bad behavior on display, especially as Trump overtakes his tutor as New York’s No. 1 immoral bigwig in the go-go 1980s, gives you a good idea of how the mogul’s worst qualities metastasized in the media’s spotlight. Cohn taught him well, and celebrity only further curdled him. You see Trump weasel, backpedal, backstab, double-talk, lie, cheat, steal. You also witness him rape his wife.
Hmm, maybe MSNBC could get hold of this flattering documentary and run it for the entertainment of viewers. /s
Richard Nixon’s insecurities brought him down. Donald Trump, due to his own insecurities, will suffer the same fate, God willing, justice being served, and the people consenting.
I do think Josh has a great point here, that Trump’s own lawyers seem to have phrased their questions to buttress his ego. Whatever we may think about their apparent attempts to use the trial to flatter the poor man himself, there is another implication, which is that Trump and his enablers were also trying to bamboozle the judge and the jury into viewing the defendant as such a “star” that he should be allowed to get away with his crimes, much as he said on tape about his ability to assault women with impunity.
He’s a wizard, a true star. A legend in his own mind.
Oh, FFS. Two and a Half Men was far more popular, and Charlie Sheen had more class.
I’ll take Charlie “Tiger Blood” Sheen over Trump any day.
Or maybe it will disappear, like that supposedly devastating Kavanaugh documentary.
Interesting article. I don’t know anyone in their right mind would conclude that The Apprentice was a big success for NBC or anyone except Trump. It was a “reality show”, meaning cheap to produce, like “The Price is Right”. Trump himself was always a poseur and NBC fed right into the act.
In any case, this act by his lawyers was likely meant to show that Trump had “privilege” to do what he did. “When you are a star, they let you do it”. In a perverse way it also shows Trump’s corrupt intent. He thinks he is entitled to behave badly because he is better than the rest of us.
Pathetic really, but hopefully the prosecution will pick up on this and restate the importance of “justice for all”.
trump finished that celebrity golf tournament in 62nd place out of 80 total players.
This is an excellent article, excellent research and analysis. Josh did a great job during the testimony phase of the trial, and now that he can take a breather, he’s providing new, helpful information
The first season of the apprentice was top 10, but viewership waned quickly. By the time fatso met Stormy, it was all of 51st on the Nielsen chart.
Didn’t sports writer Rick Reilly call him “Pele” because of his tendency to kick golf balls when he didn’t like where the landed ? Hard to do that in a tournament. He cheats at everything.
