On Monday, jury selection started for the Donald Trump hush-money trial in New York.
At the beginning of the day, Trump’s attorneys submitted some dates they had hoped to be “off” days from the trial for other obligations, but Judge Merchan was not very receptive to the request.
Talking Points…
- Trump requests
- Judge and Trump's responses
- Analysis
As the trial started, Donald Trump’s legal team requested several days for him to be excused, which would mean there would be no activity that day for the hush-money case. Trump wanted to attend the upcoming Supreme Court arguments on presidential immunity. He was also hoping to attend his son’s high school graduation, which will take place next month.
These requests were not really out of line, especially the request to attend his son’s graduation, but this court is not very friendly to Trump, and Judge Merchan took the opportunity to drop the hammer on Trump, which was no surprise. Trump has been relentlessly hammering the judge on Truth Social since the outset of this case, so I really did not expect Merchan to grant him any special favors.
The trial is expected to last at least six weeks and run as long as eight or nine weeks by the time it reaches its conclusion. Trump has his Supreme Court case and Barron’s high school graduation within that timeline. Merchan blocked Trump from attending the Supreme Court arguments, and he would not commit to an answer for Barron’s graduation, telling Trump:
“It really depends on if we are on time and where we are in the trial.”
Regarding the Supreme Court case, Merchan locked in a solid no, telling Trump:
“Arguing before the Supreme Court is a big deal, and I can certainly appreciate why your client would want to be there, but a trial in New York Supreme Court … is also a big deal.”
After Trump left the courtroom, the media was outside awaiting a statement from Trump, where he immediately started to play the victim card, a strategy that has worked very well for him in the past to draw public support as well as drive fundraising for his campaign. Trump told the media:
“He won’t allow me to leave here for a half a day to go to DC and go before the United States Supreme Court, because he thinks he’s superior, I guess, than the Supreme Court.
“I just want to thank you very much, but that I can go to my son’s graduation, but then I can’t go to the United States Supreme Court, and I’m not in Georgia or Florida or North Carolina, campaigning. Like I should be. It’s perfect for the radical left Democrats. That’s exactly what they want.”
While I do not believe either request was over the top, I also did not expect Merchan to cut Trump any breaks. Trump’s reaction was fairly predictable, considering how he has reacted to the other decisions handed down by Merchan in this case.
In terms of how the public reacted, it was right along support lines. Trump supporters were livid and expressed their outrage. Liberals laughed hysterically, claiming that Trump thought he could show his privilege for those requests, and Never-Trumpers called out Trump for not expressing any remorse for the COVID lockdown, where people missed funerals, graduations, and weddings. Day two of the trial continues on Tuesday, with jury selection still the first task to be completed, with no jurors being selected on day one.
