Trump's Trial is Making Him Look Weak

[Daily Kos Morning Roundup]( [Abbreviated Pundit Roundup]( is a long-running series published every morning that collects essential political discussion and analysis around the internet. - [Trump's Trial is Making Him Look Weak]( or the wannabe strongman, looking weak is worse than looking like a crook The political damage to Trump is not what is said in the courtroom; it’s how he looks. After spending his whole life and three presidential campaigns cultivating an image of power and strength, the first week of the trial made the former president look weak, tired, and scared. More than any testimony or even a conviction, the image of the former president sitting silently and sadly at the defense table, stripped of the pomp and circumstance upon which he has relied, could be his final undoing. - [Daily Kos isn't owned by a billionaire the way so many news outlets are today. Help keep us independent by starting a $5 monthly recurring donation right now.]( - [Before Trump’s Big Lie, There Was Trump, the Big Liar]( As the current court case continues, the public will be given examples of how Trump lies, surrounds himself with liars, and has made a profession of lying. The first stages of the trial of the People of New York State vs. Donald J. Trump have been illuminating in a variety of ways. They have made it absolutely clear that this trial is not the legal non-event Republicans and drinkers of conventional wisdom-flavored Kool Aid said it was. It is not a case about “paperwork” or “bookkeeping.” It is not a bland little nothingburger of arcane, hard-to-prove white-collar crime. It is not just the “hush money” or the “porn star” sideshow. It is a case about an alleged attempt by a man running for this country’s highest office to systematically defraud voters and use illegal means to gain an advantage in an election. - [Imagine if Joe Biden did this]( Trump's courtroom naps really should be a bigger deal. Trump sleeping in court should amount to more than a brief punchline in the news cycle, but as previously noted in this newsletter, the fact that Trump is always simultaneously trying to battle off multiple scandals prevents a singular narrative from cementing. The criminal trial for a former president who’s also the 2024 GOP presidential nominee is already a history-making event. Trump dozing off can seem beside the point, but in a sane world it would undermine the notion that he has more energy for the presidency than Biden. - [MAGA Mike sings a chorus of ‘Kumbaya’ with the Democrats, but for how long?]( No one could have predicted that the worst Congress in memory would morph into the Kumbaya Congress. Or that Mike Johnson, the accidental House speaker from Louisiana, would transform from Trump puppet to statesman. The two developments are related, of course. Congress was able to veer from the dangerous, dead-end course that the Republican-run House had it on for the past 16 months only once Johnson very belatedly took the keys from his MAGA allies and started driving events himself. Recognizing that he had no choice but to deal with the Democratic-controlled Senate and President Biden, Johnson helped pass overdue government funding last month and, in recent days, green-lighted votes reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and — finally! — approving aid to Ukraine to help it defend itself and the rest of Europe from a rapacious Russia. So, yes, we have a functioning Congress. Enjoy it while it lasts. Because it probably won’t exist after November’s election. - [These Daily Kos tote bags are going fast, so get yours now!]( - [Are Democrats in disarray? It depends when poll.]( The variance in horse-race polling is essentially completely one-sided depending how unified the Democratic sample is. Polling needs to happen consistently right up until the very end (Election Day), which is not normal industry practice, because in recent elections Democrats have not been coming home until the moment they actually vote. There is a group out there saying they are crossover Democratic voters, but they are either coming home to the Dems in the end or staying home in these off-year elections. Figuring out if their turnout actually means they do vote for Trump – or stay home – is the most important factor this cycle. Want to write your own stories? [Log in]( or [sign up]( to post articles and comments on Daily Kos, the nation's largest progressive community. Follow Daily Kos on [Facebook](, [Threads](, and [Instagram](. 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