CNN anchor Stephanie Ruhle appeared today at the Manhattan courthouse where former President Donald Trump faces 34 felony counts for allegedly falsifying business documents to cover up payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 presidential election. (Daniels testified that she had a sexual encounter with Trump which triggered the payments, an encounter Trump denies.)
Prior to entering the courtroom, Trump complained to the press about a lack of supporters: “Outside looks like it’s supposed to be Fort Knox. There are more police than I’ve ever seen anywhere because they don’t want to have anyone come down. There’s not a civilian within three blocks of the courthouse.”
This is categorically FALSE. Today is my first day attending the trial and Mr Trump's description of the area surrounding the courthouse does not resemble the truth.
— Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle) May 20, 2024
People were lined up outside between barriers (press & non-press).
And the park directly across from the… https://t.co/FPMVqBvS5Z
Ruhle responded: “This is categorically FALSE. Today is my first day attending the trial and Mr Trump’s description of the area surrounding the courthouse does not resemble the truth. People were lined up outside between barriers (press & non-press). And the park directly across from the courthouse is completely open to the public.”
This ain’t Fort Knox #TrumpTrials @scottfromnyc79 https://t.co/N48pyutHAA pic.twitter.com/74hykix2vG
— Anarchy princess (@SatireAP) May 20, 2024
Conservative political pundit George Conway, who has been attending Trump’s trial and was married to Trump’s 2016 campaign director Kellyanne Conway, responded to Ruhle: “If the people had known you were coming, Steph, they would have trampled all the barricades.”
Note: Ruhle and Trump have a history. In 2015, while working for Bloomberg, Ruhle interviewed then-presidential candidate Trump, who faced backlash in the media after laying blame on President George W. Bush for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Trump said: “When you talk about George Bush, I mean — say what you want — the World Trade Center came down during his time.” When Ruhle gave him an opportunity to clarify the statement, Trump added: “”Blame him or don’t blame him, but he was president. The World Trade Center came down during his reign.”
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