MSNBC panel slams Trump lawyers for their 'Weinstein-esque' attacks on Stormy Daniels
Donald Trump's criminal trial continued into its 14th day on Thursday, where actress and director Stormy Daniels was still on the stand.
Trump stands accused of 34 felony counts involving his falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment he allegedly gave to Daniels to hide claims of an affair.
While Trump's lawyer Susan Necheles was hammering Daniels with questions, some of the women observed that they were "slut shaming" Daniels and calling her "crazy," which can sometimes be used as a gendered attack.
"I have to say, today — was really uncomfortable being in there," said New York Times reporter Susanne Craig of the Daniels cross-examination.
"I just think they brought the nuts and sluts heavy and I felt heavy — I started feel uncomfortable listening to the cross. It just went on and on and it was slut shaming. It was," she said.
MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace repeated the "nuts and sluts," characterization saying, "It the almost methodic way every question bounced back between 'you're crazy,' 'you're a slut,' 'you have sex on camera,' 'you're too crazy to know the difference.'"
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Craig explained that they had to go down that road for Trump's defense, "but how far they went down it..." she trailed off.
"Felt like a choice," Wallace agreed.
"Yeah, a few decades ago. And they kept going back and back," Craig continued. "And I have to say, Stormy Daniels — it was so impressive to see her when she was right going back and forth with Susan Necheles."
She said that she witnessed "a strong woman on the stand" with Daniels. One observation that illustrated it was on several occasions when Necheles would misquote Daniels saying things and Daniels would come back asking for proof she said that. When Necheles provided the exhibit with the quote - she had misquoted it and Daniels never made the statement.
"I wondered when I saw that — so, what she's testified to, in direct, is a power imbalance, right?" asked Wallace. "And the sex is the sex, and again, it's what Trump sought to keep quiet. What I thought was amazing — what Stormy testifies to, in direct, on Tuesday, is a power imbalance that Susan Necheles replayed over and over and over. Because it's only someone powerful who thinks that they can, on cross, get a witness to admit to something they never said."
Craig explained that Daniels "was having none of it."
"And I was thinking about the two of them today, Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels, back in 2006 and what that looked like at the time, forget who they are today," Craig continued. "Stormy Daniels was in her 20s. She was an adult film star looking to get on the 'Celebrity Apprentice.'"
"That's what Trump dangled," Wallace agreed.
"It was the casting couch," said Craig.
"It was Weinstein-esque, and he played it," Wallace said, comparing it to Harvey Weinstein, who was accused of forcing actresses to have sex with him if they wanted roles in films he was producing.
See the conversation in the video below or at the link here.
Analysts attack Trump lawyers for 'shaming' Stormy Daniels in a 'casting couch' tale youtu.be