Before walking into opening statements of the first ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president, Donald Trump stopped to hit the press with his usual talking points.
In a rambling address, he accused President Joe Biden and the Washington establishment of targeting him, he hit out at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for prosecuting him and not focusing on New York City crime, and he took aim at New York Attorney General Letitia James over a completely different trial, the civil fraud case for which he owes a $175 million bond.
His rant in front of the courtroom was quickly shut down by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
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“Obviously, none of that is true,” she told host Anderson Cooper, focusing on the allegations of Biden’s involvement.
“When all of this was coming to light, … Biden was in Delaware. He had just left the White House, and so he was obviously not involved in this.
“This is a case that was brought here in Manhattan. Trump was indicted by a jury here, a grand jury here that heard the evidence here, and now it's going to be a jury of 12 people that will decide his ultimate future.
“But politically, they believe that's going to be their best argument, even though it's not true. It's going to be the idea that this is directed. It’s ludicrous.”
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Trump had said of the trial, “It's in coordination with Washington. I just want people to know, I understand that this is done for purposes of hurting the opponents of the worst president in the history of our country.”
Trump's speech jumped from topic to topic, touching on his criminal trial, then to a separate hearing that's scheduled to go ahead Monday which is looking into whether his bond in the civil fraud case is acceptable, and then his claims that targeting him was spelling economic doom for New York because businesses were being scared away.
Collins said it had left viewers, “Drinking their morning coffee and wondering what he’s talking about.”
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