MSNBC's Katie Phang Predicts Trump's Testimony Will 'Blow Up In His Face'
MSNBC’s Katie Phang said Donald Trump didn’t do himself any favors with the jury during his brief stint on the stand at his defamation damages trial.
The former president testified Thursday in the case brought by E. Jean Carroll, a writer who accuses him of raping her in a department store dressing room in 1996 and subsequently defaming her when she went public with her allegations. Trump denies the charges.
Despite testifying for less than three minutes, Trump still managed to push past the limits of what was permitted by Judge Lewis Kaplan.
“She said something that I considered to be a false accusation,” he said, according to the Associated Press, later adding, “I just wanted to defend myself, my family and, frankly, the presidency.”
Kaplan struck both those responses.
In May, a jury awarded Carroll $5 million after finding that Trump sexually abused and defamed her. Kaplan has said that verdict would be accepted at this trial and Trump cannot dispute it.
“Judge Kaplan, in this case, has had him and [his attorney] Alina Habba on the tightest of leashes, and he’s not tolerated anything,” Phang, an attorney, said on MSNBC’s “All In” on Thursday. “And he’s basically said, I’m not going to give you leeway in any capacity. So Alina Habba decided to try but she couldn’t get away with it.”
“And I think it’s gonna blow up in his face, because Donald Trump’s having this jury that’s watching this happen, and none of it is positive for Donald Trump,” she added.
Watch her analysis below on MSNBC.
Support HuffPost
The Stakes Have Never Been Higher
At HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed