Not having cameras in the courtroom during Trump’s hush money trial in New York means missing out on what would be Must See TV. I’m not talking about the accountants and office staff describing ledger entries and emails, although that might have been interesting in revealing how the crime lord’s business fudged things to cover his ass.
I’m talking about yesterday’s testimony from Stormy Daniels. If that had been televised, it might well have been the most-watched television event ever — even bigger than the heights of the OJ Simpson criminal trial. I truly don’t care what people do in bed and behind closed doors (as long as they’re consenting adults), but watching a porn star dish details on her bedroom encounter with The Orange Ego would have been irresistible. Even Fox News would have carried that.
Instead, we got information relayed by text from reporters in the courtroom to producers at the cable news networks who put it on teleprompters so anchors could tell us what was happening fourth-hand. It wasn’t nearly as compelling as seeing not just Daniels testifying, but also Trump squirming in his seat as she verbally diminished his lack of carnal prowess. The moment in which she divulged that he told her she reminded him of his daughter, Ivanka, would have been the clip heard around the world and replayed ad nauseam.
If the proceedings had been televised live, it wouldn’t have been just CNN and MSNBC who carried it. The other broadcast networks would have picked it up, too. What TV programmer worth their salary would turn down the opportunity to broadcast the historic moment when an adult film star discussed her sad few minutes in the sack with a man who went on to become president? Not only that, but pieces of it would have been turned into TikToks, YouTube videos, and posts on every social platform you can name.
MAGA media would have aired it, too, if only to offer the proceedings as proof that Dear Leader is being treated unfairly by a lying witness and a corrupt system determined to take him down. But perhaps some of those viewers would form a different opinion of the king of their cult. Perhaps.
Even beyond the salacious in-the-sheets stories, the details of how he and his associates tried to cover it up by paying Daniels $130,000 and then burying the transaction in his official business records would have been fascinating to see, too. Renderings in chalk by a courtroom sketch artist can’t compare to live video of the goings-on.
With an election that may come down to a few percentage points either way, the exposure — if you’ll pardon the word — could have made a difference.