During the first week of Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan, the former president has been forced to sit and listen to the unfiltered and honest opinions of “haters.” Trump, who normally surrounds himself with yes-men, is being forced to remain quietly seated — without gesturing or using his phone — as potential jurors share their thoughts on him.
During the first three days of jury selection, Trump was described as a racist, sexist and narcissist, Politico reported. He has been shown social media posts that ask officials to “lock him up.”
One person who called him “very selfish and self-serving” is also now one of the 12 New Yorkers selected to rule on Trump’s fate. “How he portrays himself in public seems to me … he’s not my cup of tea,” that juror said.
Trump did not appear to enjoy that moment, in particular. After being called selfish, MSNBC‘s Yasmin Vossoughian reported that, “It seems the former president does not like this response, leaning back, crossing his arms in hearing these opinions of him.”
But that juror was not alone in their assessment, which was aired before the former president. “I don’t have strong opinions about him, but I don’t like his persona,” one prospective juror said. “That doesn’t mean I can’t be fair and impartial.”
The court was able to pick 12 jurors at a pace that surprised observers — even after one juror who had been selected dropped out, citing publicity around their participation. Another selected juror was dismissed because prosecutors were worried that he was dishonest when he answered a jury selection question by saying he had never been accused or convicted of a crime.
Ultimately, a dozen of Trump’s peers decide whether or not to convict him of 34 counts of falsifying business records as part of an effort to conceal a sex scandal ahead of the 2016 election.