Mary Trump, a prominent critic of former President Donald Trump and his niece, shared her insights on the potential emotional turmoil that her uncle might experience as he faces impending legal challenges in Georgia. In a candid conversation with MSNBC host Alex Wagner, Mary Trump delved into the psyche of the former president, offering a perspective on his reactions to the upcoming legal proceedings.
The discussion centered around the recent indictment announced by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, which included former President Trump as a defendant along with 18 co-defendants. The charges brought against him carry the weight of 13 counts, with the potential for a maximum prison sentence of 71.5 years if convicted. The deadline for Trump and his co-defendants to surrender for arrest and arraignment was set for August 25.
Mary Trump, known for her criticisms of her uncle’s behavior and actions, provided insight into how he might respond to the impending legal process. She emphasized that one of the most impactful emotions for him is humiliation, which he may try to deflect using various defense mechanisms, such as anger.
According to Mary Trump via Mediate, the former president’s demeanor could change when he faces the reality of being treated “like a common criminal” and subjected to processes such as posing for a mugshot and being fingerprinted. She characterized Trump as a “frightened little boy deep down” who might react in ways that expose his vulnerability.
Mary Trump pointed out that her uncle has always been shielded from accountability, accustomed to having the system work in his favor. Facing the necessity of adhering to a schedule set by others and undergoing the same legal procedures as any other criminal defendant could be a stark and humbling shift for him. She drew parallels to his previous legal encounters in New York, where he exhibited a more subdued demeanor.
MARY TRUMP: Probably the worst thing he can feel is humiliation. So he uses a lot of weapons at his disposal, a lot of defense mechanisms to displace that humiliation, to make it unconscious so he doesn’t have to feel. So we’ve been hearing from a lot of people in his inner circle that he is furious all the time. It’s much better to feel angry than it is to feel humiliated or afraid.
But Donald is and always has been a frightened little boy deep down. And I actually believe that when he goes through this process next week or in the coming days, if he does as he should, as all of them should, because everybody else in his position has to. It might actually start breaking through that there’s nothing he can do to get out of this. We saw this in New York. He wasn’t, he wasn’t arrogant. He wasn’t brash. He submitted in a way that was meek. And we’re going to see the same thing, but on steroids. Next week, I believe. Yeah.
ALEX WAGNER: I think that you’re making such, well, keen observations, quite obviously because you know the man well. But I think what you say about the manner in which he has sort of denied this reality is through anger and vitriol. And you can kind of deny the concept of incarceration. But when he is walked and potentially mug shot ID and fingerprinted and put through a jail system, that is not at all similar to the booking process that he’s gone through thus far. I wonder if that in and of itself is a form of humiliation just to the man who dares to descend from the gilded palace in which he resides, to sort of the basest levels of the judicial system and treated like a common criminal, that that very process to me seems like a schismatic moment in Donald Trump’s life.
MARY TRUMP: Yeah, And quite honestly, just the fact that he has to show up on somebody else’s schedule and he does not have the option of saying, you know what, I don’t want to do this. That in itself is humiliating enough. We are seeing a man who, for his entire life has never had the experience of being held accountable for anything, you know, who has never had to submit to anybody who has always had the system rigged in his favor. At this point now, where for the fourth time, not only is he going, I’m sorry, for the fourth time, he’s going to have to show up and stand in front of a judge or go through the processing. But this time he’s actually going to have to go through all of it, just like any common criminal defendant.
