'Down in the dumps' Trump pressing allies to attend his trial as MAGA stay away: analysis
As Donald Trump's hush money trial concludes its third week, the lack of MAGA supporters showing up outside— to say nothing of his wife Melania Trump — has led to a smattering of close allies of the former president taking a seat in the otherwise crowded Manhattan courtroom where he is facing 34 felony counts.
According to Salon political analyst Heather Digby Parton, the former president has been looking forlorn at his daily courthouse appearance to hear testimony in his hush money trial.
"You can feel the tension in Trump when he makes his frequent forays into the strange echo chamber hallway where he rants about the proceedings and reads clippings from Fox News personalities saying the trial is a travesty," she observed while adding that has been compounded by his "frustration" at being under a gag order that could lead to jail time if he violates Judge Juan Merchan's gag order again.
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Noting the dearth of Trump supporters on the street, Parton wrote, "But he reportedly was quite upset that his political allies weren't in attendance during the first two weeks of the trial. According to NBC News, he whined 'no one is defending me' and pouted over the fact that there wasn't a big crowd of protesters outside. He lied about that, of course, and said on camera that there were hundreds of people blocked from protesting."
In need of reinforcements to bolster his spirits, son Eric Trump has made two appearances and Trump attorney Alina Habba — who is not part of his hush money trial team — have both been courthouse attendees which put them in the position to criticize the court and the witness testimony in a way Trump can't.
"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," wondered Parton. "So now he's got some of his employees, political cronies and right-wing media personalities attending the trial to give him a little boost."
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