‘Falling Asleep’: Why Trump’s Demeanor in Court Is So Bad
Whatever the jury thinks, voters will render their own verdict
It remains unclear what, if any, bearing Donald Trump’s behavior in court eventually will have on the jury when they hand down their verdict in his ongoing hush money case.
But Trump isn’t only a criminal defendant; he’s simultaneously running a third time for president.
And there, Trump’s demeanor in court — and news of his manner and appearance — are doing him no favors with the voters who will decide his fate later this year on Election Day.
That’s according to a prominent college professor, author and political commentator.
On trial for hiding and falsifying a hush-money payment to a porn star with whom he allegedly had an affair before the 2016 presidential election, Trump is the first former US president to be put on trial in a criminal case.
Trump, running for a rematch against President Biden, just completed the first week of that trial in New York, and it didn't go well for him — especially in the court of public opinion, said Jason Johnson, author and associate professor of communication and journalism at Morgan State University in Baltimore.
“That’s why this is such a bad week, because we can go through all the sort of legalese, jargon, but really the average person is picking up every fifth word,” Johnson said. “What they’re picking up are things like ‘adult film star,’ ‘payoff,’ ‘family isn’t there,’ and ‘falling asleep during a trial.’
“So the outside world is like, ‘Okay, this doesn’t look good. He doesn’t sound alert. We’re not seeing anything that gives us the opportunity to think, Oh, my gosh, Trump is alert. He’s paying attention to this,” he added. “Friends? How many of us have them? Right? But if you heard someone say this room was filled with people who are supporting Donald Trump and they leave the room every day and Melania is there and everything else like that, it gives the outside public the impression, Well, these people believe in him. Even if he’s guilty, his family is still with him. The fact that he doesn’t have people who are down with him, that’s what the public is picking up and the jury sees that.”
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