This column, from the weekly opinion piece MATTER OF FACT, first appeared on BrooklynReporter.com, the Home Reporter and Spectator dated May 24, 2024
Over several weeks, beginning on April 15, the New York State trial against Donald Trump taking place in lower Manhattan has been quite a spectacle. However, it is not because of what has been happening inside the courtroom, which has been mundane, straightforward legal arguments from the prosecution and the defense. The theatrics have been entirely related to what has occurred beyond the courtroom doors when court is out of session.
The spectacle outside of the courtroom has not been related to members of the public on the street outside the courthouse. Despite Trump’s pleas for his supporters to flood the area outside the trial venue and his attestations that the area would be mobbed by those protesting the legal system putting him on trial, the media has far outnumbered any Trump supporters outside the courthouse.
The spectacle that has been on display has been by Trump supporters of the elected variety, as well as some who are seemingly pining to either be elected some day or be appointed to a position in a second Trump presidential administration. And rather than on the street outside the courthouse, these spectacles have played out in the hallway inside the courthouse, a short distance behind defendant Trump during the moments when he addresses the press before or after court adjourns.
Like some sort of MAGA version of a Hajj, Republican politicians and hopeful politicians have made an odd pilgrimage to Manhattan to stand behind Trump while he speaks, attend his trial, and speak to the press themselves. The latter has consisted of comments that echo every other Republican figure who travels to the courthouse, and primarily consist of the things Trump has been unable to say due to the gag order imposed by the judge.
Like any defendant in a criminal case, Trump cannot speak about subjects or individuals related to the case that may affect the case. Not being able to publicly attack the prosecutors, jurors, judge or the families of any of these people is not unique to his case. Though Trump tried to get around that with arguments related to the first amendment and being a presidential candidate, that did not fly with the judge.
“Hopefully we’ll have more and more senators and congressmen go up every day to represent him and be able to go out and overcome this gag order, and that’s one of the reasons we went…”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), May 15, 2024 at Manhattan Courthouse during trial of Donald Trump
And so, the Republicans who come to stand by their party’s leader during his criminal trial say what he cannot. They attack the judge’s daughter and others they connect to the case, while acting as if the nearly identical comments they each make are their own original thoughts that are in no way a coordinated attempt to circumvent the gag order. Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville said the quiet part out loud when he blurted out, “Hopefully we’ll have more and more senators and congressmen go up every day to represent him and be able to go out and overcome this gag order, and that’s one of the reasons we went — is to be able to speak …for President Trump.”
There have been too many of these GOP members of Congress and Republican figures making the trip to be part of this spectacle each day that I cannot take the time to list them all. Each day, Trump surrogates have been seen assembled a short distance behind Trump as he speaks, with the male members of this entourage almost all always clad in the same red ties and dark suit, as if they are cosplaying in Trump’s stereotypical attire.
Staten Island and southern Brooklyn Rep. Nicole Malliotakis was one of the earliest to join one of these groups of courthouse supporters, when she joined other Republican members of Congress there on May 13. Malliotakis referred to the trial as “a sham” and said, “there is no evidence here,” despite evidence being entered into the record including falsified financial records, handwritten notes detailing how the hush money payments would be concealed, and a recording of Trump clearly indicating he was aware of, participating in, and, in fact, directing the scheme.
It is not surprising to see Republicans upset that their nominee for president in 2024 is a defendant in a criminal trial. It is a spectacle to witness members of the self-proclaimed “law and order” party flout an order from a justice system official and insist that their leader be deemed above the law.
