In mid-April, as Donald Trump’s first criminal trial got underway, The New York Times published a good fact-checking piece, explaining that the former president has relied on “colorful hyperbole, defended his conduct with faulty comparisons and lobbed false attacks and baseless accusations at opponents and adjudicators alike.”
Six weeks later, as the Republican’s trial reaches its endpoint, it’s striking just how little has changed. The Washington Post published a fact-check report of its own:
As closing arguments began Tuesday in Donald Trump’s hush money trial in Manhattan, the former president stopped to decry the proceedings in remarks to reporters. Trump, who did not testify in his own defense, often speaks in shorthand, so here’s a guide to his statements — and what is false or misleading.
The report then proceeded to chronicle a series of falsehoods Trump presented to reporters and the public ahead of closing arguments.
At face value, this might not seem especially notable. To know anything about the former president is to know that he lies uncontrollably about matters large and small. Facing his first criminal trial, it would’ve been far more surprising if the suspected felon didn’t try to deceive the public about the case.
But reading the Times and Post reports, it’s interesting to see just how little Trump’s lies evolved during the proceedings. Over the course of six weeks, after having an opportunity to hear his own defense attorneys present their best case and pitch their ostensibly strongest arguments, the Republican clung to the same discredited nonsense in late May that he peddled in mid-April.
Trump claimed, then and now, that his prosecution was the result of a conspiracy orchestrated by President Joe Biden. There’s literally no evidence to support such a claim, but the defendant desperately wants it to be true, so he pretends that it is true.
Trump claimed, then and now, that Judge Juan Merchan is “corrupt” and “conflicted.” This has also collapsed under scrutiny, though the presumptive GOP nominee continues to repeat the claim on a daily basis anyway.
Trump claimed, then and now, that prosecutors should’ve brought the case sooner, which isn’t quite as absurd as his other assertions, though if the accused is looking for someone to blame for the delay, he should start with his own handpicked former attorney general.
Trump claimed, then and now, that a court-imposed gag order has prevented him from speaking out about the case, which continues to be rather hilarious, given that he speaks out about the case every day.
Stepping back, there are effectively two parallel efforts unfolding simultaneously. On the one hand, there’s obviously the trial in the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse. On the other, there’s what’s known as the “court of public opinion”: Trump is, after all, a candidate for public office, trying to persuade voters as his defense attorneys try to persuade jurors.
But by most measures, Trump’s case is even weaker than his lawyers’. He packaged some lies together six weeks ago, watched the trial, and then recycled the identical lies.
Is it any wonder why a majority of Americans believe the former president is guilty?
