Why Trump said he’d testify in his criminal trial, but didn’t

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Steve Benen is a producer for 'The Rachel Maddow Show,' the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of 'The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics.'

As his criminal trial was poised to begin, Donald Trump told reporters they should expect to see him on the stand. “Yeah, I would testify, absolutely,” the defendant declared. “I’m testifying. I tell the truth, I mean, all I can do is tell the truth.” The language, which the former president repeated more than once, sounded categorical — which made it all the more notable when Trump and his defense team started hedging last week.

The public is left with a dynamic in which the criminal defendant had plenty to say about the case online, in interviews, and outside the courtroom, but given the opportunity to tell the jury his side of the story, Trump demurred. Jurors are not supposed to care. Voters, on the other hand, might. Indeed, for all of the Republican’s tough talk and chest thumping, Trump has a problem when it comes to actually following through on his bravado.

 

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