'No hell to speak of': columnist says MAGA is already bored with Trump's hush money case

Donald Trump's campaign avowal that his hush money trial would mean "all hell breaks loose" failed to pass as news spread of the former president's sleepy demeanor inside the courtroom, a new analysis notes.

Molly Jong-Fast Monday published for Vanity Fair an essay on the lack of MAGA fury on the steps of 100 Centre Street courthouse hosting the historic criminal trial of a former U.S. President.

"There was no hell to speak of," she writes. "Trump supporters didn’t storm the courthouse like they did the Capitol back in January 2021. In fact, the only turnout Trump got was a smattering of his usual toadies, including Andrew Giuliani."

Jong-Fast recalled instead seeing a dull and dusty site on the first week of the proceedings featuring a "grumpy 77-year-old man who was exhausted from hours of sitting on a hard chair in a cold room, falling asleep to potential jurors talking about their (oft-negative) feelings about him."

The columnist argues fatigue may have already set in on his MAGA ilk.

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"We don’t know what the next four days of Trump’s trial will hold," according to Jong-Fast. "But if he and his supporters are already feeling depleted, imagine how they’ll feel in June."

Trump stands accused of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Trump, the Republican presumptive nominee in the 2024 presidential election, pleaded not guilty and denies the sexual encounters Daniels affirms.

Jong-Fast says "it shouldn't be a surprise" to see Trump napping between outbursts of anger inside the courtroom, but she was shocked by one element of the case.

"The first four days of the New York criminal proceedings, which continued with opening statements Monday, painted a rather surprising portrait of a man who could no longer outrun the wheels of justice," she wrote.

"They pierced through Trump’s armor in ways both profound and absurd, shattering the public’s perception of a man who may have seemed legally invincible. I knew that this case, compared to those of the past, would prove harder for Teflon Don to repel. But even still, I didn’t think the coating would wear off quite this quickly."