'They haven’t shown up': Columnist says Trump allies are keeping their distance during trial

10 May 2024

Former President Donald Trump may be finding out who is real friends are in his hour of need, as he has had scant public support during his first criminal trial in Manhattan.

In an essay for Salon, columnist Heather Digby Parton observed that one particular thing stood out in the 45th president of the United States' ongoing trial proceedings — his allies are keeping him at arms' length. With a few exceptions like his adult children, a handful of campaign advisors and a recent appearance by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida), who is running for another term this November, Trump hasn't had many surrogates stand by him in New York.

Parton noted that Trump has been promising since 2022 that his supporters "won't stand for it" if he was indicted on criminal charges, and that his army of supporters would follow him to any jurisdiction — including New York.

"If these radical, vicious racist prosecutors do anything wrong, I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protest we have ever had... in Washington, D.C, in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere because our country and our elections are corrupt," Trump said at a Houston-area rally two years ago.

"He actually called for his followers to come to the trial on his Truth Social platform — 'GO OUT AND PEACEFULLY PROTEST. RALLY BEHIND MAGA. SAVE OUR COUNTRY!' — but other than a dozen or so kooks, they haven't shown up," Parton wrote. "Why MAGA hasn't turned up to support him in his moment of need when there always seems to be a few thousand who like to go to his rallies is a mystery but it clearly has him feeling down in the dumps."

According to Parton, the lack of support from the MAGA faithful has him depending on "his employees, political cronies and right-wing media personalities attending the trial to give him a little boost." Several examples she included were Fox News personality Jeanine Pirro, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, attorney Alina Habba — who unsuccessfully defended him in the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial — and 2024 campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita. Parton noted that Trump's printouts of praise from right-wing media outlets are provided by aide Natalie Harp, who uses a portable printer to give the ex-president "mood-boosting news articles."

"That's just pathetic," Parton wrote.

In her essay, Parton hypothesized that Scott was perhaps seeing a kindred spirit in Trump, who was found liable for massive fraud by Judge Arthur Engoron earlier this year. While Trump was hit with a $355 million civil judgment (plus $90 million in interest and penalties) for artificially inflating the value of his real estate assets, Scott was himself found liable for Medicare fraud during his time as a hospital CEO, settling with the government for $1.7 billion in fines.

"I take responsibility for what happened on my watch as CEO," Scott said at the time.

"The ambitious senator is said to be angling for the VP slot or Senate majority leader and he knows that whining like a five-year-old about being victimized is the quickest way to Donald Trump's heart," Parton wrote. "Scott's the first contender to be there in his time of need and I'm sure Trump noticed."

Click here to read Parton's full essay in Salon.

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