(Photo by Cheney Orr/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Former president Donald Trump isn’t known for being considerate. He cruelly mocks and demeans people — in fact, it’s a bit of a calling card for the 45th president of the United States. But usually when he says mean things about people, they aren’t standing right next to him.
On Friday, Trump gave a press conference after appearing in court to appeal the $5 million verdict against him for sexual abuse and defamation in the E. Jean Carroll case. He used that opportunity to rail against the facts of the case, Carroll, the judicial system, New York City, and… his own lawyers?
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He said, “I’m disappointed in my legal talent, I’ll be honest with you.” He continued, “They’re good, they’re good people, they’re talented people, but today at the trial they didn’t mention the dress. A Monica Lewinsky type dress was a big part of the trial. I said, ‘why didn’t you mention that?’”
All while flanked by his lawyers including Alina Habba, Will Scharf, and D. John Sauer.
But Trump wasn’t done trashing his lawyers.
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Trump can’t remember if he was president or not when the first Carroll trial happened in 2023, then says he wanted to show up for the trial but didn’t because he claims his lawyer told him not to. pic.twitter.com/p26WWagjfq
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) September 6, 2024
As the former president notes in his comments, that lawyer (likely Joe Tacopina) is “not with us any longer,” meaning he wasn’t one of the ones awkwardly standing next to him as he bashed them. So at least that’s something.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].