Donald Trump, a man renowned for craving adulation and approval, has this week been confronted with the disdain of Manhattanites called as prospective jurors in his New York criminal trial for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. No wonder he’s apparently trying to sleep through the proceedings.
While no jurors were selected on Monday — with dozens excused after indicating they could not be fair and impartial in weighing the 34 felony charges against Trump — seven made the cut on Tuesday. (The court will need 18 people to qualify in all: 12 jurors and six alternates.) However, more were dismissed after questions arose about content they had shared on social media that disparaged the former president, and Trump himself was not spared from hearing what they had posted.
One potential juror ruled out on Tuesday was a man who recently shared an AI-generated video of Trump saying “I’m dumb as fuck,” according to reporter Josh Kovensky of Talking Points Memo. The man had evidently tried to conceal his opinion of Trump during earlier questioning, per The New York Times, and protested that the video was only something he “reposted,” but Judge Juan Merchan dismissed him.
At another point, tweeted Tyler McBrien of Lawfare, the judge read a meme into the record that seemingly disqualified the would-be juror who shared it. The joke referenced the Thai youth soccer team dramatically rescued after they were trapped in a flooded cave system for more than two weeks in the summer of 2018, when Trump was still in office: “Trump invites the Thai boys to the White House, and the boys request to return to their cave.”
Some of the internet material brought before the court sparked debates as to whether it actually proved bias. Trump lawyer Todd Blanche argued that a video of a New York street party around the time of the 2020 election shared on Facebook by a prospective juror obviously showed a celebration of Trump’s loss to Joe Biden. The woman claimed it was a spontaneous gathering. Trump reportedly muttered something in her direction and drew a warning from Merchan against intimidation tactics. While the judge denied Blanche’s motion to strike the juror for cause, according to MSNBC host Katie Phang, it’s not clear if she was ultimately seated on the jury.
At least one juror missed their chance to deliberate on Trump’s case due to his explicit political disagreements with the presumptive 2024 GOP nominee for president. “Good news!! Trump lost his battle on his unlawful travel ban!!! Get him out, and lock him up,” they wrote on a social media account when the administration suffered a legal setback in upholding executive orders preventing entry into the U.S. by individuals from several countries with majority-Muslim populations.
But jurors didn’t have to spell out their specific grievances with Trump to earn objections from Blanche, who said many had digital footprints that contradicted their claims that they could be fair and objective in the trial. He even went so far as to bring up a meme posted eight years ago by the husband of a potential juror, which depicted former President Barack Obama next to Trump, with the caption: “I don’t think this is what they meant by Orange is the new Black.”
Merchan apologized if anyone in court was offended by the joke but seemed disinclined to consider the social media habits of jurors’ family members. Nevertheless, as several journalists noted, Trump could be seen studying a printout of the meme. “He does not look amused at all,” the Times reported.
