Combative on the stand
This is a fun heads I win tails you lose Trump has going here. If he pitches fits in court and calls the judge names why that’s because he’s The Victim Of A Conspiracy. If he doesn’t, same deal.
Mr Trump was combative on the stand. He took direct aim at the judge, leading to some heated exchanges, and drew his rebukes for airing broad grievances when they were not directly relevant to the question.
Is this because he’s a goon who acts like that at all times? Or is it a cunning plan?
“I think he is trying to goad the judge into doing something he can argue on appeal shows prejudice on his part,” Prof McMunigal said. “Maybe he makes a comment they can use to support a bias case later.”
Or he can just do that regardless, as he always does.
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, told the BBC that Mr Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, appeared to view the trial as an opportunity to campaign.
“[His] behaviour suggests that he may view the trial as an opportunity to play the victim of an unfair justice system and, thus, attempt to capitalise on the trial to score political points,” Professor Tobias said.
Head he wins, tails we lose.
The thing with Trump’s genius for stupidity is that you can’t tell if it’s clever until you find out how stupid his marks are and by then we’ve probably all lost.
This reminds me of that years-long tendency for media commentators to ask ‘are we about to see the presidential turn?’ and constant probing for deeper meaning behind his stupidity and ignorance and rage and greed and [etc].
But that was years ago. Why are people still ascribing grand strategic thinking to Trump? His behaviour has been a focus of media since the start of his presidential run in 2015, and every report we’ve had from closed doors shows that he’s not wearing a mask for the public. He’s an uncontrollable ragebaby and everyone ought to know it; those that don’t are in the cult or unable to face the truth. What you see of him is not a screen, it’s what he is.