Maggie Haberman Roasts Trump Appeals Court Stunt — Stunning Assassination Claim Was The Star Not Him
New York Times correspondent and CNN analyst Maggie Haberman roasted former President Donald Trump’s appearance at an appeals court hearing — which was overshadowed by his attorney’s stunning claim about presidential immunity.
On Tuesday morning, Trump showed up in court to listen to the oral arguments at a hearing on his claim of presidential immunity in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. It was a hearing at which his attorney argued that a president could order Seal Team Six to assassinate a political rival and not face prosecution unless he were impeached and convicted first.
Haberman and colleagues Eileen Sullivan and Glenn Thrush dropped a report on Trump’s appearance analyzing the effectiveness of the stunt, which they found lacking.
The title — “As Political Theater, Trump’s Court Appearance Wasn’t a Showstopper” — kind of said it all, but they didn’t stop there. The subhed and lede were equally unkind:
The former president plans to continue showing up at various legal proceedings against him, but in this case the spotlight stayed largely on the judges and their skepticism about his immunity claims.
If Donald J. Trump’s goal on Tuesday was to turn a weighty legal proceeding in Washington into a de facto campaign appearance that galvanized media attention, he fell short.
Haberman et al continued:
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.
Instead, Mr. Trump 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.
Following the hearing, Trump and attorney John Lauro spoke to reporters for about ten minutes.
Trump’s remarks were so shot-through with falsehoods that CNN and MSNBC dumped out of the coverage, and included triumphant claims and a warning that if he were to lose the appeal “It will be bedlam in the country.”
As Trump wrapped up and strode from the lectern, a reporter asked “Mr. President. You just used the word bedlam. Will you tell your supporters now, no matter what, no violence?”
