MSNBC hosts shocked as Stormy Daniels' lawyer says actress has 'empathy' for Trump
Stormy Daniels feels "empathy" for the troubles Donald Trump now faces, her lawyer said on Friday.
Clark Brewster has represented the actress and director for the past five years, and he revealed to MSNBC that he spoke to her after the trial about her feelings on the matter.
The panel of hosts asked Brewster how Daniels felt after Trump was found guilty on 34 counts, and Andrea Mitchell was so shocked by the answer that she doubled over the desk in disbelief.
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Katy Tur began the segment by recalling that Trump denied he ever had "a sexual relationship" with her and called her a "con job" who was "washed up." He attacked her as having "a low IQ" and accused her of being a "liar."
But after the Trump verdict was announced, memes sprung up all over social media featuring Daniels saying, "You're welcome." Others cheered her with thanks for helping "bring down Trump."
"We talked today. The suddenness, actually, of that verdict and how it came down rocked her last night," said Brewster. "She was actually pretty emotional about it when we talked with feelings of empathy on one hand but also all the things he did since that time, and condemning her."
"Empathy for him?!" a shocked Andrea Mitchell said.
Brewster explained that Daniels was "caught off guard" by the fact that Trump was actually convicted, despite expecting it.
"It was just maybe the realization of the finality and what she's been through hit her as well," he said. "But there was a bit of empathy."
Chris Jansing pointed to the "harsh questioning" from Trump's lawyers.
"But she's used to people judging her harshly and speaking to her harshly," Jansing said. "Her whole life — people who saw the documentary on her know what the perceptions of her are. But I thought it was really interesting what Michael Cohen said about her last night on our air."
She played the Thursday night interview with Cohen, who had Daniels on his podcast. He said that she was incredibly intelligent and "unflappable." He explained that because of her profession, she is discounted, and that proved to be one of the problems for Trump's lawyers, who weren't prepared for it.
"I think it was a very poor decision to go after her," Cohen said. "People don't know, unless you've read her book, she's actually wickedly smart. I think she graduated valedictorian of her high school class. She's much smarter than they are."
Brewster explained that the two days on the stand give Daniels vindication, though the verdict this week certainly helps.
Daniels said on the stand that if Trump was convicted, she wanted him to go to jail, but Brewster said that he thinks her comments were part of her anger about being attacked.
"I mean, physical threats, things like that," he described in addition to the attacks on her character. "And the fact that he was so harsh and critical of her appearance and her intellect and so, you know, that spurred some of that. But I think take that away — person to person, I don't know if she would say I want him to go to jail."
See the full interview below or at the link.
Hosts shocked as Stormy Daniels' lawyer says she has 'empathy' for Donald Trump www.youtube.com