Former President Donald Trump seems unable to prevent his campaign from struggling as he instead focuses on “playing the victim” in the throes of his hush-money criminal trial in New York, according to former Trump aide Alyssa Farah Griffin.
Trump’s trial on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, which began in Manhattan this week with jury selection, is expected to continue into June. The former president and presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee has pleaded not guilty to all charges and claims to be the victim of political “persecution.”
Following the third day of the trial on Thursday, Trump stood outside the courtroom and dramatically waved printouts of conservative news articles and quotes from right-wing pundits who stated he was being treated unfairly, while also complaining that it had been “freezing” in the courtroom.
Griffin, an outspoken critic of the ex-president since leaving the Trump administration during its waning months, said during an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Thursday that Trump’s actions so far have shown that he is distracted by his legal woes and has been “playing the victim” while pushing aside efforts to boost his campaign.
Photos by Jabin Botsford/Craig Hudson for The Washington Post/Getty Images
“Listen, he’s uncomfortable,” Griffin said. “He’s not on his golf course in Florida, or he’s not on Air Force One, where he controls the dials … I think this is hard for him … He’s supposed to be using these moments to make some kind of a campaign message, to say, ‘I’d like to be out there talking about the issues the American people care about.'”
“That’s kind of failed to materialize so far this week,” she continued. “Other than just complaining and playing the victim, he’s yet to effectively use this sort of captive moment of the media to say anything that even leans into a campaign speech. And it underscores just how hard it’s going to be for him to campaign from the courtroom.”
Newsweek reached out for comment to the Trump campaign via email on Thursday night.
Trump did briefly mention that his trial was keeping him from the campaign trail after court adjourned on Thursday, telling reporters gathered outside the courtroom that he was “supposed to be” in “a lot of different places campaigning.”
But Trump largely focused on complaints about being on trial and his comfort in court, rather than any attempts to convince voters to choose him over President Joe Biden in an expected rematch that polls suggest could be a very close contest.
“[This] is an unfair trial,” Trump said while holding and looking through a large stack of news clippings. “These are all stories over the last few days from legal experts … saying how this is not a case, the case is ridiculous … everybody’s outraged by it.”
“I haven’t seen one [news clipping] that says its a good trial,” he continued. “It’s a shame. And I’m sitting here for days now, from morning till night, in that freezing room. Freezing. Everybody was freezing in there. And all for this.”
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.