Former President Donald Trump read from a Washington Times columnist on Tuesday after the day’s proceedings in court.
Mr. Trump read from a column published Monday by Charles Hurt, the Times’ opinion editor, to make the claim that, in the words of the Times headline “Trump trial [is] backfiring on Democrats — bigly.”
As reporters barked questions that Mr. Trump said he couldn’t answer because of a gag order, Mr. Trump referred to “Charlie Hurt, a great person, a reporter” before making his point by reading excerpts from the column.
“The problem for Democrats is that extensive polling now shows that voters see through their scam and don’t like what is going on,” Mr. Trump said from the Hurt column. “Watching 100,000 enthusiastic people gather along the boardwalk of a New Jersey beach, to support President Trump on Saturday evening gives you some idea how terrified Democrats are of Trump,” he said, continuing to quote the Times.
Mr. Trump then made a point he frequently does to avoid legal jeopardy from the gag order imposed by Judge Juan Merchan.
“Well, I’m not saying it, he’s saying it,” Mr. Trump said, going on to dissent from a point Mr. Hurt made.
“I don’t think they’re terrified of anything,” he said of the Democrats. “They’re fascists.”
The former president continued to read from Mr. Hurt’s column that “whatever happens they cannot face him to be fair and honest election … they will lose and they know it,” going on to add in his own words that “there is no way anybody else was gonna beat Trump. And they’re using election interference to try to do it.”
As reporters continued to bark questions, Mr. Trump “responded” by reading from such other analysts as Byron York of the Washington Examiner, Alan Dershowitz of Harvard Law School, Victor Davis Hanson of National Review, and Jeff Zeleny of CNN — “CNN?” Mr. Trump said in a dry aside.