How Trump 'fell short' in strategy to paint 'himself as a victim' in latest court appearance: report

09 January 2024

Former President Donald Trump's ongoing efforts to portray "himself as a victim" while "standing in or near a courthouse" didn't land well for him Tuesday during his federal appeals court appearance over whether he's immune from prosecution, according to. New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman, Eileen Sullivan and Glenn Thrush.

According to their report, the MAGA hopeful "was left to hold a short appearance at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue — what had been the Trump International Hotel before he sold it after leaving office."

Harberman, Sullivan and Thrush note that "in this case, the federal courthouse was a relatively inhospitable setting. The security protocols and the ban on cameras in federal courthouses did not lend themselves easily to the kind of displays Mr. Trump has made at the four arraignments for the indictments he is facing, where he has commanded intensive coverage and the chance to cast the prosecutions as political persecution."

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Furthermore, the trio report, "The headlines went instead to the sharp questioning by the three judges. They did not overtly acknowledge Mr. Trump’s presence in the courtroom but expressed great skepticism about his legal team’s argument that even a president who ordered the killing of a political rival could not be prosecuted unless he or she was first convicted in an impeachment proceeding."

Tuesday's court appearance wasn't mandatory for the former president, Harberman, Sullivan and Thrush note, "despite his claim in a fund-raising email to supporters that he was being forced off the campaign trail. But it is one that he plans to continue using this month, banking that it will be effective in rallying his base during the primary season — and giving him a personal illusion of control — even if it risks drawing the wrong kind of attention to his legal problems for general election voters later in the year."

The New York Times' full report is here (subscription required).

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