As his criminal trial was poised to begin, Donald Trump told reporters they should expect to see him on the stand. “Yeah, I would testify, absolutely,” the defendant declared. “I’m testifying. I tell the truth, I mean, all I can do is tell the truth.”
The language, which the former president repeated more than once, sounded categorical — which made it all the more notable when Trump and his defense team started hedging last week.
The Republican’s critics, hoping to see him deliver testimony that would almost certainly make his problems worse, did their best to try to coax him into testifying. Third Way even invested in a 30-second ad that concluded, “Take the stand, Donald, or admit you’re a coward.”
It didn’t work. As my MSNBC colleague Jordan Rubin explained:
It’s official: Donald Trump will not be testifying in his own defense. While expected, the decision stands out as a smart one from Trump in a case where the defense strategy has not always been clear. … The prosecution has the burden to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. The defense has no burden, and the jury is not supposed to infer anything negative from Trump’s decision not to testify.
It was hard not to wonder whether the suspected felon would explain why, exactly, he didn’t testify after saying he would. But at least so far, Trump hasn’t shed light on the subject.
During a relatively brief Q&A with reporters at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse yesterday, the Republican was asked specifically about his decision not to testify. Trump simply walked away, ignoring the question.
Trump ignores a question about why he decided not to testify as he walks away from reporters pic.twitter.com/FfXdG4vNdi
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 21, 2024
The public is left with a dynamic in which the criminal defendant had plenty to say about the case online, in interviews and outside the courtroom, but given the opportunity to tell the jury his side of the story, Trump demurred.
Jurors are not supposed to care. Voters, on the other hand, might.
Indeed, for all of the Republican’s tough talk and chest thumping, Trump has a problem when it comes to actually following through on his bravado. After declaring, “I’m testifying,” the former president not only failed to keep his word, he’s also failing to explain why he failed to keep his word.
Following up on earlier coverage, there’s no great mystery as to why: Trump would share his side of the story under questioning from his own attorneys, but the moment he faced off against prosecutors, the former president would’ve run the risk of lying under oath, losing his temper or lashing out wildly, all while inviting another contempt citation. Facing a series of brutal questions about his alleged sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels and his treatment of women probably wouldn’t do him any favors, either. (He has denied a sexual encounter took place.) The circumstances are eerily familiar: Trump and his team continue to understand that he can, and often does, get away with public deceptions, but it’s vastly more difficult when he’s under oath and facing the prospect of real consequences. The former president probably realizes that he’ll have to endure months of mockery about “chickening out” and breaking another promise, but he also knows that taking the stand and helping prosecutors would’ve been worse. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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