The Daily Populous Thursday May 16th, 2024 night edition
Authored by rollingstone.com and submitted by Plastic-Age5205

Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to his criminal hush-money trial as a “witch hunt” and a “show trial,” and if the former president wanted to make a spectacle of the court’s proceeding, he now has quite the supporting cast.

In the last several days of courtroom drama, Trump has been accompanied by an entourage of prominent Republican lawmakers eager to be seen offering their public support to the indicted former president. Not only is their presence an act of theatrical solidarity, they have been acting as mouthpieces for Trump, who remains bound by a gag order barring him from attacking witnesses, jurors, court staff, prosecutors, and the families of those involved in the case.

On Tuesday, Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, addressed reporters gathered outside of court and repeated attacks against witnesses and the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, who has led a Democratic consulting firm, that have previously landed Trump in hot water.

“Among the atrocities here, the judge’s own daughter is making millions of dollars doing online fundraising for Democrats,” Johnson said.

I’m disgusted by what’s happening in the sham trial against President Trump.

The American people can see it’s politically motivated.

Their star witness, Michael Cohen, is a known liar who is clearly on a mission for personal revenge. pic.twitter.com/dub4dyu91s — Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) May 14, 2024

Johnson was not the only one of Trump’s guests to target Merchan’s daughter.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), another member of the ring-kissing delegation on Tuesday, called the trial a “joke and a farce,” and accused Merchan’s daughter of “making money” off of the case. Fellow Florida Rep. Cory Mills stood alongside Donalds, and later appeared on Fox News from outside of the court to tell the outlet that “people like the judge’s daughter” are fundraising off of the trial on behalf of the Democratic Party.

Donalds going after the judge’s daughter pic.twitter.com/ayDVO4oUln — Acyn (@Acyn) May 14, 2024

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) echoed Trump’s pre-gag order attacks against Merchan’s daughter a day earlier. “The judge inside, his daughter is making millions of dollars running against Donald Trump, raising money for Trump’s political opponents,” Vance said. Editor’s picks

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who showed up at the trial last week, also attacked Merchan’s daughter on Monday, claiming “the judge’s daughter is a political operative and raises money for Democrats.”

The trial is a perfect opportunity for Republicans desperate for Trump’s approval to score some points with the de-facto party leader. It was also an opportunity for the House Speaker to raise some money. “President Donald Trump is on trial for one reason and one reason only: to interfere with our election. Democrats are weaponizing the justice system to defeat,” Johnson wrote in an email to potential donors. The communique included a photo of Trump and Johnson clad in virtually identical suits and ties.

As reported by Rolling Stone, in the early days of the trial, the former president was infuriated by the lack of visible support from his allies at the courthouse. “Where are they?” he complained earlier this month, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Another source noted that Trump had privately grumbled that Republicans he’d endorsed were failing to pay proper homage. Trending Chiefs Kicker Spreads Antisemitic Lies In Benedictine College Graduation Speech DJ Akademiks Sued for Rape and Defamation Biden and Trump Agree to Debate Next Month on CNN J.K. Rowling Used to Want to Debate Gender. Now She Just Insults Trans People

The response has been swift, although several of the Republicans who showed up claim they are there voluntarily and were not asked to attend by Trump. The former president is well aware of their role, though, noting to reporters on Tuesday that he has “a lot of surrogates and they are speaking very beautifully.”

“They come from all over Washington, and they’re highly respected and they think this is the biggest scam they’ve ever seen,” he added.

SnowyyRaven on May 15th, 2024 at 16:20 UTC »

I'm finally remembering one of the things that I hate the most about Trump and his MAGA cult leaders through these trials outside of policies.

Trump and these people will just lie and smear anyone who disagrees with them or doesn't fall in line. They don't stop at that either, no, they go after their families and friends too.

And then right wing media will follow suit, and this sometimes results in real world consequences towards the people being targeted.

4ivE on May 15th, 2024 at 16:07 UTC »

Nice to see the federal government making in-person appearances to help a private citizen violate a gag order imposed in the course of their fraud / campaign finance violation / election tampering trial.

La-Boheme-1896 on May 15th, 2024 at 16:05 UTC »

This is so fucking sad, Trump is literally putting words in their mouth.

To defend him over trying to hide that he fucked a porn star behind his wife's (and 4 month old son) back.

Is this something Johnson needs to tell his son about in the app they have for monitoring porn? Is fucking the actual performer a thing a Christian family can defend as long as they don't watch?