Republican Group Launches String of Scathing Attacks on Donald Trump

The Lincoln Project, an anti-Donald Trump Republican super PAC, shared videos attacking the former president for his actions during the criminal trial in New York.

The super PAC, which regularly creates videos and ads targeting Trump, reposted two of their videos on social media mocking the former president amid reports he fell asleep during the first day of his falsifying business records trial, as well as criticizing him for allegedly trying to intimidate a potential juror while in the courtroom.

On Tuesday, Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the historic trial, warned Trump against trying to intimate possible jury members after the former president allegedly said something "audible" when a potential juror walked by him.

"He was gesturing and he was speaking in the direction of the juror," Merchan said. "I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom."

The warning occurred one day after The New York Times' Maggie Haberman and other reporters alleged that Trump appeared to be sleeping during the first day of proceedings on Monday. Trump's team called the claims he fell asleep as "100% Fake News."

In response, The Lincoln Project re-released an ad they first posted in February, which contained several examples of Trump rambling, making incoherent statements, or slurring his words during public speaking.

"Trump falling asleep during his own criminal trial demonstrates one thing: Trump is unwell," The Lincoln Project wrote on X, formerly Twitter. The video was shared with the social media hashtag #TrumpIsStillNotWell.

The second video reshared by The Lincoln Project suggests that Trump knew what he was doing by allegedly trying to intimate a potential jury member, given his previous comments and rhetoric.

The video, first posted on April 9, features a voiceover that states, "This weekend, Trump went crazy on social media. Sounds about normal, right? But this time, he was targeting the judges overseeing his criminal and civil trials, asking, 'How many judges do I have to endure before somebody steps in?'"

"'Somebody steps in?' To do what, Donald? To attack the judges? To kill them or their families?" it continued.

The video then notes how Trump previously told a crowd of his supporters in Washington, D.C., before the January 6 attack in 2021 to "walk down to the Capitol," and urged the far-right Proud Boys group to "stand by" during a 2020 presidential debate.

The clip also mentions Trump saying there were "very fine people on both sides" of deadly clashes at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. Trump later clarified his comments were referring to those who attended the protest about the removal of a monument to Confederate leader Robert E. Lee.

"We've said that Donald Trump is corrupt. We've told you he's an authoritarian. We've said that he's dangerous. But we've never said he doesn't know exactly what he's doing," the video says.

The group reshared the clip on X, formerly Twitter, with the caption: "Just like his attacks on judges, Trump is trying to intimidate and scare the jurors on his criminal case into doing his bidding. It's cruel. It's evil. It's Trump."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's office via email for comment.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to so-called "hush money" he arranged his former lawyer Michael Cohen to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair she had with Trump a secret ahead of the 2016 election.

The money was listed in Trump's company records as "legal fees," which prosecutors suggest was part of an unlawful attempt to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential race.

Trump admits reimbursing the $130,000 hush money to Cohen but denies having an affair with Daniels.

The trial in New York continues on Wednesday with further jury selection. It is expected to last six to eight weeks in total.