'A sulky child in court': Trump mocked for failed bid to turn trial into rally

Donald Trump wanted to turn his own trial into a campaign stop, but instead he ended up coming across as a "sulky child" in the courtroom, according to one writer.

The former president didn't have to attend the civil fraud case targeting his company's business in New York, but he chose to do so, apparently because he had a plan to raise money on the courthouse's front steps. But his plan didn't go exactly as he expected, and he even ducked out early.

Trump had clear expectations that he would be able to make this case a media spectacle which would work to his benefit, according to a Salon piece.

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"The civil trial to determine how much Donald Trump will be punished for decades of fraud in New York kicked off this week, and one thing became immediately clear: The former reality TV host really thought he'd be able to turn this into a campaign spectacle," the article published Friday states.

It continues:

"Every chance he got, he held forth at length into the microphones, clearly expecting rapt audiences to hang onto his every word, swooning at the great injustice of watching a lifelong con artist finally face the music. After three days, however, even Trump quietly concluded that this was less 'Apprentice: Season One' and more the season where Leeza Gibbons beat Ian Ziering for the prize of never having to talk to Donald Trump again. (I'm assuming. Like nearly every American, I didn't watch it.) Unable to generate interest in his incoherent ravings outside the courtroom doors, Trump turned tail and fled back to Florida. Hopefully, his body being ejected from New York is a precursor to the end of all his commercial business in the state."

After his antics on the courtroom steps, the Salon piece suggests, Trump appeared sad.

"Trump's already severe narcissism has been intensified through years of cheering MAGA crowds and powerful people kissing his ass. The result was that he actually seemed to believe he would look tough and cool for the cameras. Instead, America was treated to a series of photos of him looking like a sulky child in court, accompanied by reports that he acted like a fidgeting, impatient toddler throughout the proceedings. During recess, he ranted at cameras, ping-ponging between racist and sexist vitriol towards James and endless whining about in-the-weeds details that even the biggest legal junkies don't care about."

Read the full article here.