A decision by Donald Trump to forbid hishush money trial legal team from admitting that he had multiple adulterous affairs while suggesting his trial is part of a grand conspiracy is likely falling on deaf ears in the jury box.
That is the opinion of Salon analyst Amanda Marcotte who wrote in her column that the common knowledge that Trump committed adultery is the elephant in the room which makes Trump's lawyers look foolish at the best — and liars at worst.
As she explained, "The defense team has adopted Trump's favored tactic of floating conspiracy theories to explain away the mounting pile of evidence against him. In some cases, they may be trying to convince at least one juror the conspiracy theory is the same as reasonable doubt," before adding, "For some reason, Trump seems to believe his followers need a story to tell to claim he's innocent of everything said about him during this trial, even though he very obviously isn't."
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With that in mind, she suggested that even Trump's loyal MAGA horde acknowledges that he fooled around and they are fine with it, making the defense strategy not only counterproductive but dangerous with the former president facing jail time.
"MAGA may not love that their leader is on trial, but the conspiracy theories he's floating are so asinine that even his most shameless hype men are shying away from repeating them. It turns out there are conspiracy theories that are too dumb for even the Trump base to embrace. This disconnect also suggests that Trump's self-absorption is causing him to lose sight of what, exactly, his followers want from him," she asserted.
Noting Trump has pressured his lawyers to deny in court he ever had sex with adult film star Stormy Daniels — at no small expense to his ego — the columnist wrote it is an "ill-advised" defense strategy.
"Telling such an obvious whopper to a jury seems like it will backfire by making them believe the defense attorneys are just liars. Trump's claims of sexual virtue seem more aimed at the outside audience, as if he hopes his supporters will start parroting his ridiculous notions that he's never done anything wrong," she wrote before adding, "It also shows he forgets what his supporters want from him," which she claims is validating their "culture war grievances."
"The Big Lie is beloved because it tells them a story where they aren't outnumbered by Americans who disagree with them. But why should they care if Trump breaks the law and cheats on his wife?" she pointed out. "That was always part of his appeal. That he would deny it at this late date is odd, and suggests he really is becoming unmoored not just from reality, but his own relationship to his base."
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