Megyn Kelly has criticized the ongoing hush money trial against Donald Trump, describing it as “shameful” and a humiliation for the United States.
It is the first time that a former US president has faced a criminal trial. Kelly said this broke a 250-year precedent and was an example of the legal system being used against a former president in what was a “humiliation” of the country “as if she were a whore.”
The charges center on $130,000 in payments Trump’s company made to his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen.
He paid that sum on Trump’s behalf to prevent porn actress Stormy Daniels from going public with her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied that the meeting ever occurred.
Prosecutors say the payments to Cohen were falsely recorded as legal fees.
Megyn Kelly criticized the ongoing hush money trial against Donald Trump, calling it “shameful” and noting that it is the first time a former US president has faced such charges.
Donald Trump is seen speaking to reporters at the end of the second day of jury selection in his trial on charges of falsifying business records to hide money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, at Manhattan state court in the New York City.
Prosecutors have described the money as part of a plan to bury damaging stories that Trump feared could help his opponent in the 2016 race, particularly because Trump’s reputation was being tarnished at the time by comments he made about the women.
Kelly said on her show: ‘For me, this is a sad and disgusting day… Today I woke up feeling uneasy, depressed about this case.
‘It’s not that I love Trump as you know, I’m not a Trump lover. I’m not a sycophant. I’m not a Trump-deranged person either. I am sad for our country.
“It makes me sad that Trump is going through this. What is he accused of? It’s paying off: yes, he’s a porn star, but let’s be honest: a lover who keeps silent about an affair. And then this thing about writing in the books: “I paid a lover to keep quiet about my affair.” They have turned that moment into 34 felony charges.
‘That’s why they broke almost 250 years of precedent and impeached a former president. That is a misfortune. It is a humiliation for us, the United States. Forget Trump.
“Alvin Bragg has humbled himself and brought us down with him,” Kelly said in a scathing summary of the trial Trump faces.
‘It’s like they took someone like Princess Diana and turned her into a street prostitute. That is the United States and what it has reduced us to today. But this mockery of our legal system in all efforts to “get Trump,” this is the most offensive.”
The trial, which is part of Trump’s legal challenges, is a critical moment in his political career, with implications for the upcoming elections and his image in the public eye. Trump is seen in the Manhattan Criminal Courtroom on Tuesday.
Trump paid porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to prevent her from going public with her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied that the meeting ever occurred.
Kelly explained that Trump did not properly document the hush payment on his books, which would normally be a felony charge, however, the alleged cover-up elevated the charge from a misdemeanor to a felony under New York law.
‘I am disgusted. I am discouraged. I have very little hope that there will be justice for Trump during this trial, either from this judge who clearly can’t stand him and should not be trying the case at all, or from the jury who, if you play the odds, will hate him. absolutely. Donald Trump as do 87 percent of New Yorkers,” Kelly continued.
‘He used to be loved when he was just a businessman, and he was full of color and style. Well, things change when you become political. We all know that. It is a dark day for America. “Alvin Bragg should be ashamed of himself,” Kelly suggested.
And I understand what Trump is saying: “I’m proud to be here.” He has to turn it around. You know, he’s taking this legal bullet and testing the system because he has to and also because, I’m sure, he’s horrified by what’s being done… This could be the thing that changes November. And if you think I’m joking, he looks at the polls.’
The first seven jurors for Donald Trump’s hush money trial were seated Tuesday after lawyers questioned jurors about their social media posts, political views and personal lives to decide who can fairly try the former president. .
Trump appeared exhausted after leaving the courtroom following the second day of jury selection.
Trump is accused of criminally altering business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.
The panelists who were selected are an information technology worker, an English teacher, an oncology nurse, a sales professional, a software engineer and two lawyers.
Eleven more people must still be sworn in before opening remarks begin on Monday.
It is a moment of reckoning for Trump, who has sought to postpone his prosecutions until after the November election and cast himself as a victim of a politically motivated justice system.
The trial puts Trump’s legal problems at the center of his tight race against President Joe Biden.
It is the first of Trump’s four criminal cases to go to trial, and he may be the only one to deliver a verdict before voters decide whether to elect the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
The methodical process unfolding in the Manhattan courtroom highlights the challenge of finding people who can fairly try the polarizing defendant in the city where he built his real estate empire before being elected president in 2016.
Still, jury selection moved faster than expected Tuesday afternoon. It was scheduled to resume on Thursday.
Upon leaving the courthouse, Trump stopped in the hallway to criticize the case to reporters, accusing Judge Juan Merchán of “speeding up” the trial.
He denied doing anything wrong.