In all seriousness, it doesn’t seem like Donald Trump even remembers who Michael Cohen is anymore
Of all the people Donald Trump narcissistically feels betrayed by, Michael Cohen has got to be at the top of the list. Cohen went from being Trump’s secret weapon against everyone else, to being prosecutors’ secret weapon against Trump. So after Trump has shown over the top reactions to multiple witnesses who have taken the stand in this trial, you’d think he’d have had a thunderous reaction to seeing his nemesis Cohen on the stand. But… nothing.
When Stormy Daniels was on the stand, Trump was so agitated, he spent the whole time cursing under his breath to the point that the judge had to tell him to knock it off. Trump didn’t seem to understand what her testimony was even about, but he was uncontrollably agitated at the mere sight of her.
When Trump’s longtime Trump Organization pal Jeff McConney left the stand, Trump fist bumped him. Given that McConney had just given damning testimony against him, Trump clearly didn’t understand what McConney’s testimony had been about. But he was excited to see an old pal in front of him.
Yet we’re two full days into Michael Cohen’s time on the stand, and Trump’s response continues to be nonexistent. Trump’s attorneys resorted to giving him photos of his rally crowds on Monday just to try to keep him interested and awake, yet he ended up falling asleep during Cohen’s testimony anyway.
Even during the cross examination of Cohen on Tuesday, Trump showed no interest in what his attorneys were doing. Accordingly his attorneys delivered a listless, meandering cross examination which suggested that they were merely guessing at what Trump might want them to be asking Cohen. And all through it, nothing from Trump at all.
Trump got so agitated at Daniels’ testimony, he had his attorneys constantly objecting and even had them make multiple requests for a mistrial. But even with all this damning testimony that Trump’s nemesis Cohen has been giving, Trump hasn’t pushed his attorneys into making a single over the top move. It’s like Trump isn’t even there.
At this point it’s fair to ask if Trump is even there. This is a guy who keeps displaying increasingly frequent and severe symptoms consistent with dementia. As his mind shrinks, he’s combining people in his life, and seemingly losing track of people entirely. His rally speeches keep giving this away. And his behavior in court suggests that he has no idea what any of these witnesses are even testifying about, or why any of them are there. He just knows that he likes some of them and hates some of them, with seemingly no cognitive function beyond that.
And then there’s Michael Cohen, a guy who should be eliciting the most over the top emotional reaction of all from Trump, and yet Cohen’s multiple-day presence on the witness stand isn’t eliciting anything from Trump at all. No emotion. No interest. No recognition. Trump’s behavior suggests that he doesn’t even remember who Cohen is, let alone understand what Cohen is talking about.
Trump’s total lack of a reaction to Michael Cohen suggests that his entire years-long memory trail involving Cohen is gone. Trump’s behavior suggests that he thinks the guy on the witness stand is a stranger. Of no interest to him. Irrelevant.
This is a guy who keeps showing that he can’t control himself at the defense table whenever he does recognize a witness. Donald Trump very much no longer appears to know or remember who Michael Cohen is.
