'He is scared': Trump biographer says Donald can't process his fear — and that's why he's freaking out online
Speaking to MSNBC on Sunday, a former biographer of Donald Trump's explained that there's no real psychological or emotional understanding of what it means to be held accountable for anything.
"Donald has no history of that will allow him to process what's going on," said David Cay Johnston. "He has gotten away with crimes and wrongdoing, everything from plying 12, 13, and 14-year-old children to gamble in his casinos, by giving them liquor and limousines and rooms in his, and being involved up to his eyeballs with a major international cocaine trafficker for which he did major favors — to getting away with lying under oath in some proceedings. So, here, Donald is very aware that he is at risk. He simply doesn't know how to process that. So, he is scared you are seeing his fear and his growing fear in the things he's posting to Truth Social and the comments he's making in public."
Johnston and other Trump experts, along with his niece, Mary Trump, have analyzed the former president and noted that never in his life has he been held accountable for anything. His father always bailed him out. With every business failure he experienced, his father fixed the situation and gave him even more money.
Despite multiple allegations against Trump over the years, this is the first time he has personally been charged with a crime. There are civil matters and lawsuits he's faced, but nothing that was a felony. Meanwhile, Trump is facing possible charges in Fulton County, Georgia, and from special counsel Jack Smith for his role on Jan. 6 and the theft of government documents. That piece is the most significant case, Johnston claimed.
"The other is Donald stealing national security documents," continued Johnston, "which the court record indicates included material that would allow someone to identify undercover agents or our assets — the assets being someone inside the Kremlin speaking out to the intelligence services. And that is a very serious matter for Trump. But he's going to want to focus instead on what Donald regards as the illegitimate prosecution of him. Understand, to Donald, he should not be prosecuted. He has not done anything wrong. Donald once said he never asked God for forgiveness because he's never done anything in his life that would require him to ask forgiveness."
Watch:Trump will only abide by a gag order when 'he finally recognizes the severity of his predicament': biographer
Bloomberg Opinion editor and “TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald" author Tim O'Brien cited only one other occasion in which Donald Trump faced serious legal jeopardy. In that case, he explained, it was Trump and his father, Fred Trump Sr., who were being prosecuted by the justice department for racial discrimination.
Now Trump is in trouble again, only this time, his father isn't here to bail him out.
You know, there is this myth around him that he has eluded the law time in time again, but the reality is that he's never had this kind of legal artillery lined up on his doorstep," said O'Brien. "I think, of course, he is afraid of it as any person would be who is facing the possibility of being perp-walked in front of the country. And I think he is most likely going to go to the streets in this. So, when he says he will have a press conference and he will make an announcement after he is arraigned, I would look for any dog whistles, as he's already done. He will use racial and racist dog whistles, but I think the real concern here is the extent to which he and the people around him, and some members of his own party, used this to foment violence just like he did on Jan 6th. I think he is cornered. I think when he has exhausted all of these legal remedies and legal strategies to stave this off, the default will be to go to the streets, go to his supporters, and encourage violence."
abide by a gag order, and O'Brien chuckled, saying it would never happen.
"Donald Trump is a lawyer's worst nightmare," he explained. "If he actually abides by a gag order in this case, it will probably mean that he finally recognizes the severity of his predicament. Although, I think this is the least potent of the legal danger that he faces. He doesn't listen to his lawyers. He's never listened to advisers. I don't anticipate him following a gag order."
There has been an ongoing question about whether media will be allowed in the court or if a proceeding will be revealed to the public. There have been arguments on both sides, with some saying if Trump is convicted or acquitted, there would be conspiracy theories on both sides, if the trial isn't televised to the public.
O'Brien explained that Trump is a media addict, so he would want the trial to be public.
"On the other hand, there's a strong chance we will be humiliated in that courtroom, and he won't want that," he continued. Any other defendant would want their rights to be preserved, and transparency might be important in that respect. So, he'll probably be conflicted.
"And remember, he watched what happened to his CFO, Allen Weisselberg. He saw Allen Weisselberg perp-walked in front of cameras, and I think it horrified him, and I don't think he wants that for himself."
O'Brien also said that he thinks Trump will want to sneak in the back door and not be seen, and he'd prefer to make statements after at Mar-a-Lago or a place like that on his own ground with his own people in a more controlled environment.
He closed by calling out Republicans, who are coming to Trump's aide, noting that the GOP used to be the party of "law and order," but now "they're the party of chaos."
Watch:Trump family 'rattled' as 'messy' legal team turns on each other over indictment
According to the New York Times' Maggie Haberman, despite a sense of calm projected from Donald Trump's lawyers, the former president's legal team is in turmoil after being caught flat-footed by the indictment handed down by a Manhattan grand jury last Thursday.
In an interview with her own paper's David Leonhardt, Haberman also claimed that the former president's family is also not taking the news of the reportedly 30-count sealed indictment well.
Asked what is going on at Mar-a-Lago after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office confirmed the indictment and a court date, Haberman claimed interactions among Trump's lawyers have gotten "messy."
"You’ve reported that Trump and his aides were surprised by the news and didn’t expect an indictment for a few weeks — if at all. What’s the atmosphere like at Mar-a-Lago on the days after?' Leonhardt asked.
According to Haberman, Trump's people were more prepared on the "political front," but that was about all.
"Another is the legal front, which is messy because his team has had a lot of infighting, and there’s finger-pointing about why they were so caught off guard," she explained before elaborating, "The lawyers also don’t yet know the charges because it’s a sealed indictment."
"Finally, there is the emotional front. While Trump is not said to be throwing things, he is extremely angry and his family is, not surprisingly, rattled," she added.
You can read more here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/02/briefing/donald-trump-indictment-arrest.html
