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What a scene! While the Trump defense team was briefing their case in downtown Manhattan, the Biden administration sent actor Robert De Niro outside the courthouse to play political surrogate at a street press conference. In one of De Niro’s best recent performances, the actor transformed before our eyes from political actor to Manhattan street madman. All that was missing was a sign proclaiming, “Repent: The End is Near.”
He wore a mask outdoors but took it off when he entered a crowd.
Clearly something is going on with Bob.
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But were De Niro’s rants — that a Trump presidency would “end everything” and that the former president “could destroy not just the city but the country and ultimately the world” — really so crazy? Or was there a deeper message?
Let us recall that this is the first overt step taken by the Biden administration to uphold Trump’s conviction, therefore the Biden team’s willingness to dispatch De Niro outside the courthouse the day before the trial is likely to go to the jury gives full credence to Trump’s accusation that the case is politically motivated.
Robert De Niro was spotted out in Manhattan after a press conference on Tuesday, where the actor highlighted his status as a quintessential New Yorker while slamming former President Donald Trump. (WNYW)
Plus, using an angry, old Hollywood actor looked terrible for the country, and the takeaway for many was that the possibility of a Trump reelection had once again fired up old white coastal liberals. This came on the heels of Trump’s visit to the South Bronx.
Jury begins deliberations in New York v. Trump trial as ex-president denounces charges as ‘falseful’
But there’s a more subtle motive: It wasn’t the American people, or even undecided voters in battleground states, who were listening to De Niro’s tirade, but a dozen fact-checkers stationed inside the courthouse a few dozen yards away.
De Niro emphasized his position as a quintessential New Yorker: “This is my neighborhood,” he declared. “I grew up here. I love this city,” but (ostensibly) unlike Trump, “I don’t want to destroy it.”
Why would swing voters in Michigan or Pennsylvania care about what Trump is allegedly doing to De Niro’s old neighborhood?
The jury doesn’t think so. But the 12 jurors who know they live in Manhattan surely do. So De Niro’s simple message was: “Convict Trump. Save New York.” He was playing on New Yorkers’ well-known tendency to see the city as the center of the earth, and the rest of the world as a sleeper enclave.
That’s why De Niro has uncomfortably brought up 9/11, equating Trump with the al-Qaida terrorists who destroyed the World Trade Center, knowing that the event remains haunting for many New Yorkers.
De Niro also checked his notes and addressed crime, claiming that “it’s no surprise that murder and other violent crime rates peaked under the Trump Administration and are declining under the Biden Administration.” He must know that crime is a major concern for New Yorkers these days as they watch the city descend into 1970s-like chaos.
Trump’s defense denied the prosecution’s fictitious crimes, but did the jury listen?
Now, just for reference: New York City’s violent crime numbers did not “peak” under the Trump administration. In fact, at the end of Biden’s first year (2021), New York City’s overall violent crime rate was It increased by a whopping 11.3%.
A familiar issue for Manhattan residents: NYPD’s latest violent crime numbers Our borough has seen an increase of 5.6% so far this year, and an increase of about 15% in the period roughly covering the current trial period.
De Niro is either dishonest or ignorant. These numbers are real, yet he doesn’t realize that Alvin Bragg, the man charged with dealing with them, is wasting resources on fantasy fever dreams about Trump?
It speaks to a certain desperation for the Biden campaign to send De Niro there at this time. Biden’s approval ratings have plummeted, and Trump’s lead is likely to soar if the jury delivers a verdict or Trump is acquitted. So Biden and his surrogates need this conviction so they can use the “f” word on Trump from now on. If Trump is convicted, any mention of Donald Trump on CNN, MSNBC, or the New York Times will be preceded by the words “convicted felon.”
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But that broad focus wasn’t really the immediate purpose of De Niro’s spectacle, because as the trial wraps up and its mysterious contours become clear, the certainty of conviction the Bidens hoped for looks in doubt. (Even many liberal commentators have been baffled by the trial’s logic.)
Now, I understand that in theory, while there is no actual restraining order, jurors are supposed to shun all media and other comment on the case. Let me say that no one, not even Judge Juan Marchan, believes that. If he did, why would we need a continuing gag order on Trump?
No, the Biden team is hoping the message gets across.
For the rest of the country, the message is simple, and will echo the messages of the E. Jean Carroll and Letitia James victimless loan fraud cases: Don’t come to New York. If you’re not willing to toe the progressive line, don’t visit here, don’t start a business here, and please, don’t even think about running for office here. (Maybe you should reconsider going to college here, too.)
New York State Leading a Nation What about population decline?
But while that may have been a national talking point, the real message delivered outside the courthouse on Tuesday was directed at 12 of De Niro’s Manhattan peers: As the actor put it, “Donald Trump doesn’t belong in my city.”
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In other words, a guilty verdict.
Whatever happens.
For more information on Paul Mauro, click here