Former President Donald Trump expressed frustration on Monday over the ongoing duration of his Manhattan criminal hush money trial, decrying what he perceived as undue delay and insisting that “I thought they were finished today.”
Addressing reporters outside the courthouse, Trump exclaimed, “Oh, we just heard two to three more weeks. I thought they were finished today, and they are finished today if you look at what’s happening. I thought they were going to be finished today, and they want two to three more weeks, the judge asked them, and playing right into the judge’s hands. The judge is so happy about two to three more weeks because they all want to keep me off the campaign trail.”
Trump further asserted, “That’s all this is about, this is about election interference, how do we stop it?”
CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale reacted to Trump’s remarks with skepticism, highlighting the lack of factual basis in the former president’s assertions.
“Well, obviously can’t definitively fact check what Mr. Trump thought would be the timeline for the trial,” Dale remarked to anchor Jake Tapper.
“But I can say there’s no basis for thinking the prosecution case would be done today. You know, all coverage, including ours, has emphasized that Michael Cohen is likely to be a key witness, that he’s likely to take a while to do his testimony. Well, we haven’t heard from him yet. There’s an extensive witness list. Of course not everyone will be called, but the prosecution is not near done yet.”
“So him saying he thought it was gonna be done today, I think, is a curious statement at best,” Dale concluded.
Of course, Trump’s allegations of political interference and his expectations for a swift trial clash with the reality of legal proceedings, which often involve complex evidence and lengthy testimonies.
Watch the segment below from CNN:
