The curse of Donald Trump

| 9:30 am EDT May 9, 2024
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As Donald Trump’s criminal trial gets back underway on Thursday morning, here’s one important thing to watch for. The press in the room wasn’t privy to it at the time, but after the daily transcript was released, it was revealed that Judge Merchan had to warn Trump’s legal team about something sort of surreal: Trump’s ongoing cursing.

Trump apparently spent much of Stormy Daniels’ testimony cursing over and over again under his breath. It’s not that you’re not allowed to curse in court, it’s that you’re not allowed to even speak or do anything while a witness is testifying. The judge concluded that Trump’s constant cursing under his breath, while Daniels was on the stand, was a potential attempt at witness intimidation.

But in context, it’s also something else: yet another sign of how badly Trump is fading cognitively. Imagine being so far gone that you think you can just sit there in a courtroom full of people and curse repeatedly under your breath, and no one is going to notice. Of course this is the same Trump who keeps falling asleep during his trial, seemingly without any awareness of why he’s there, or what’s going on, or the importance of any of it.

So as we get underway again on Thursday, with Stormy Daniels presumably retaking the stand for additional cross examination and potential redirect, it’ll be worth keeping an eye on whether Trump keeps – for lack of a better word – malfunctioning. If the muttered cursing continues, it’s possible the judge will order Trump removed from the courtroom until Daniels is finished on the stand. Trump only has a right to face his accusers if he behaves – and at this point he may be too senile to even understand how to behave.