There he goes again…
Trump appears to have fallen asleep in court again. It happened several times just now. His eyes were closed for extended periods and his head dropped down twice.
Talk about taking “anti-woke” to a whole new level.
You would think a criminal defendant facing possible prison time would be awake and alert at all times. Especially since the Manhattan courthouse seems to purposely keep the trial and overflow rooms quite chilly, probably so people won’t become sluggish from the heat. (Hey, it worked for David Letterman.) The serious business of justice requires concentration or, at the very least, consciousness.
Yet former President and current insurrectionist-in-chief Donald Trump keeps dozing off at the defense table. Look, as someone who qualifies for Social Security, I am deeply familiar with the drowsy effects of sudden fatigue. Let a Boomer who has never fallen asleep sitting in a chair cast the first stone!
But I wasn’t expecting courtroom slumbering from Trump. I figured the Adderal and rage coursing through his veins (or is it vains?) would combine to fuel eight uninterrupted hours of glowering, glaring, muttering, and gag-order defying.
It also could be a form of escape from the reality of the situation: Trump is credibly looking at the possibility of prison if convicted on charges of falsifying business records and interfering with the November 2016 election to hide hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Perhaps sleep allows Trump to redirect his thoughts toward more pleasant topics, like other people he hates and wants to punish, or how he can continue to humiliate spineless Republican politicians and drain the party’s coffers, or new scams to rip off the MAGA hoopleheads. What sociopath wouldn’t want to get lost in such a Dark Triad reverie?
Worse for Trump than the legal outcome of the trial will be the likely impact on the election. A guilty verdict, or even the damage done to his image during the course of the trial, will place his chances of returning to the White House in greater jeopardy.
Trump’s ability to once again elude consequences and accountability for his criminal and amoral behavior hinges on beating Joe Biden in November. It’s all or nothing for Trump, and in this case “nothing” could mean a prison cell and no Truth Social, no cameras, and no bronzer. That’s a grim prospect for a malevolent narcissist like Trumpelstiltskin.
It took a lot of effort, but a full jury and alternates were chosen this week for a trial Trump has furiously sought to forestall and now seeks to undermine. Next week will be fascinating. But it’s good to see the judicial process moving forward.
In the meantime, there are 200 days until the November 5 election. What happens between now and then may determine the fate of our democracy. No pressure.
(From Project Orange: Saving Democracy From the Trump-MAGA Cult)