Donald Trump on court watch in Manhattan
Donald Trump essentially has been camping out at a Manhattan courthouse since his civil fraud trial began on Monday. At about noon yesterday (Wed., 10/4/23) he bolted for Mar-a-Lago, giving no indication when he might return. What is going on? Trying to figure out the workings of Trump's jumbled brain is a chore for anyone. But Axios gave it a shot -- at least trying its best to describe Trump's odd behavior. Erin Doherty writes under the headline "Trump's unusual New York camp out":
Former President Trump has spent an unusual three days camped out at the civil fraud trial against him and his business empire.
He's rarely in one place, focused on one topic, for multiple days.
- Trump has made his mountain of legal woes central to his 2024 presidential campaign — seizing on the ongoing fraud trial and making his voluntary appearances at the Manhattan courthouse an extension of the campaign trail.
- "I'd rather be right now in Iowa. I'd rather be in New Hampshire or South Carolina or Ohio or a lot of other places," Trump said on Wednesday.
Perhaps Trump was at the courthouse because that's where the TV cameras were. He has made regular use of social media, with his rhetoric becoming increasingly violent. Writes Doherty:
Trump has repeatedly turned up before TV cameras stationed outside the courtroom to deride the trial, in sometimes violent terms, as a "witch hunt" from politically motivated prosecutors.
- He turned to his Truth Social account over and over again to criticize the trial, dispute the judge overseeing the case and slam New York Attorney General Letitia James, who filed the $250-million lawsuit last year.
- The judge overseeing the case imposed a gag order after Trump attacked a law clerk on social media.
Not surprisingly, Letitia James was unimpressed with the Trump sideshow:
James slammed Trump's attendance at the civil trial as a "political stunt."
- "Mr. Trump is no longer here. The Donald Trump show is over. This was nothing more than a political stunt, a fundraising stop," she said outside the court.
The New York civil fraud trial is an anomaly for the former president, who's notorious for veering off on tangents.
Ultimately, Trump concluded his court "stunt" and headed for Florida and Mar-a-Lago, with no word on when he might return to New York.
