The Lincoln Project, a Republican super PAC that opposes Donald Trump, released videos criticising the former president for his activities during the criminal trial in New York.
The super PAC, which regularly creates videos and ads targeting Trump, reposted two videos on social media mocking the former president amid reports that he fell asleep on the first day of his falsifying business records trial, as well as criticising him for allegedly attempting to intimidate a potential juror while in court.
On Tuesday, Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the historic trial, admonished Trump against attempting to intimidate potential jury members after the former president allegedly shouted something “audible” when a potential juror went by him.
“He was gesturing and he was speaking in the direction of the juror,” he added. “I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom.”
The warning came one day after The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman and other reporters claimed that Trump looked to be napping on the first day of hearings on Monday. Trump’s crew labelled the accusations that he fell asleep as “100% fake news.”
In response, The Lincoln Project re-released a commercial they previously ran in February, which had multiple examples of Trump rambling and making incomprehensible claims.
“Trump falling asleep during his own criminal trial demonstrates one thing: Trump is unwell,” The Lincoln Project stated on X, formerly Twitter. The footage was posted on social media with the hashtag #TrumpIsStillNotWell.
Given his previous words and rhetoric, the second video reshared by The Lincoln Project reveals that Trump knew what he was doing when he reportedly tried to instill fear in a possible juror.
The video, which was first posted on April 9, has a voiceover that reads, “This weekend, Trump went crazy on social media. Sounds quite typical, doesn’t it? But this time, he was targeting the judges overseeing his criminal and civil prosecutions, saying, ‘How many judges do I have to endure before somebody steps in?'”
“‘Someone steps in?'” To do what, Donald? To assault the judges? “To kill them or their families?” it asked.
The video then shows Trump telling a throng of his followers in Washington, D.C., before the January 6, 2021 attack to “walk down to the Capitol,” as well as urging the far-right Proud Boys organisation to “stand by” during a 2020 presidential debate.
The film also includes Trump’s statement that there were “very fine people on both sides” of violent violence at a white supremacist demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. Trump later explained that his remarks were referring to those who protested the relocation of a monument to Confederate leader Robert E. Lee.
“We’ve said that Donald Trump is corrupt. We’ve told you he’s an authoritarian. We’ve said that he’s dangerous. But we’ve never said he doesn’t know exactly what he’s doing,” the video says.
The group reshared the clip on X, formerly Twitter, with the caption: “Just like his attacks on judges, Trump is trying to intimidate and scare the jurors on his criminal case into doing his bidding. It’s cruel. It’s evil. It’s Trump.”
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business documents in connection with so-called “hush money” paid by his former lawyer Michael Cohen to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair she had with Trump a secret ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
According to prosecutors, the money was classified in Trump’s company records as “legal fees,” and it was part of an illegal attempt to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential race.
Trump acknowledges to repaying Cohen’s $130,000 hush money, but denies having an affair with Daniels.
