Former President Donald Trump remains on trial in New York City on criminal charges of falsifying business records in connection to hush money from before the 2016 elections for a woman named Stormy Daniels. And characteristically, Trump sounds desperate for shows of support in the streets on his behalf.
On Tuesday, he appeared to be making up a totally imagined tale of thousands of people trying to show support for his cause in New York City streets but facing supposed hurdles. Trump is repeatedly clamoring for what he characterizes as a loosening of restrictions around potential protests by his supporters, though reports indicate that actual security precautions in New York are relatively basic — not the blocks and blocks of a total lockdown that Trump was suggesting.
“Thousands of people were turned away from the Courthouse in Lower Manhattan by steel stanchions and police, literally blocks from the tiny side door from where I enter and leave. It is an armed camp to keep people away. Maggot Hagerman of The Failing New York Times, falsely reported that I was disappointed with the crowds. No, I’m disappointed with Maggot, and her lack of writing skill, and that some of these many police aren’t being sent to Columbia and NYU to keep the schools open and the students safe,” Trump claimed to his followers.
And there’s just no real-world evidence of this actually happening. Like, really. There’s just none! There have been sources like reporters outside the Trump courthouse chronicling ample apparent opportunity for a protest and close to nobody there!
“This is one of those “Trump doesn’t want you to believe your own eyes” times. It’s easy to visit the area around the courthouse. The park is open and accessible. The police officers are friendly, maybe a tad bored. A woman was walking her dog when I arrived this morning,” journalist Brian Stelter told X (the site formerly called Twitter) after Trump’s comments.
