Jury selection continues in the Trump fraud case

Donald Trump, a man renowned for craving adulation and approval, has this week been confronted with the disdain of Manhattanites called as prospective jurors in his New York criminal trial.

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[S]even made the cut on Tuesday. (The court will need 18 people to qualify in all: 12 jurors and six alternates.) However, more were dismissed after questions arose about content they had shared on social media that disparaged the former president, and Trump himself was not spared from hearing what they had posted.

One potential juror ruled out on Tuesday was a man who recently shared an AI-generated video of Trump saying “I’m dumb as fuck.”

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The man had evidently tried to conceal his opinion of Trump during earlier questioning, per The New York Times, and protested that the video was only something he “reposted,” but Judge Juan Merchan dismissed him.

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[T]he judge [also] read a meme into the record that seemingly disqualified the would-be juror who shared it. The joke referenced the Thai youth soccer team dramatically rescued after they were trapped in a flooded cave system for more than two weeks in the summer of 2018, when Trump was still in office: “Trump invites the Thai boys to the White House, and the boys request to return to their cave.”

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At least one juror missed their chance to deliberate on Trump’s case due to his explicit political disagreements with the presumptive 2024 GOP nominee for president. “Good news!! Trump lost his battle on his unlawful travel ban!!! Get him out, and lock him up,” they wrote on a social media account when the administration suffered a legal setback in upholding executive orders preventing entry into the U.S. by individuals from several countries with majority-Muslim populations.

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[Trump's attorney claimed] many had digital footprints that contradicted their claims that they could be fair and objective in the trial. He even went so far as to bring up a meme posted eight years ago by the husband of a potential juror, which depicted former President Barack Obama next to Trump, with the caption: “I don’t think this is what they meant by Orange is the new Black.”

  Rolling Stone

Is there film of this? Because I'd watch it.

Merchan apologized if anyone in court was offended by the joke but seemed disinclined to consider the social media habits of jurors’ family members. Nevertheless, as several journalists noted, Trump could be seen studying a printout of the meme. “He does not look amused at all,” the Times reported.

I would maybe watch it more than once.

Female.  Somebody told him as a legal strategy, he needs a female on his team.  He doesn't like it, though.

UPDATE 10:39 am:

At this point, each side has already used 6 of its 10 strikes, which means the pool of Manhattan possible jurors is really not reliably anti-Trump.  So, the venue is NOT an issue for him.  Prosecutors have already found 6 possible jurors so bad for their side that they refused them.  An equal number to the defense.  I'm surprised by that myself.  Conventional wisdom is that Manhattan is a bad venue for Trump.

Also, one of his attorneys appears even dumber than he...

UPDATE 04/18/2024: