Mary Trump says there is ‘always a way out’ for her uncle amid hush money trial
‘There’s always a way out for him. There’s always somebody willing to bail him out. Even if it looks like there’s no escape’
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Your support makes all the difference.Mary Trump, former President Donald Trump’s niece, has cast doubt over the possibility that her uncle will be convicted in court amid his hush money trial, saying there is “always a way out” for him.
Mr Trump, 77, is currently on trial in New York, charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an alleged bid to cover up hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
He allegedly paid Daniels, 45, $130,000 in October 2016 in exchange for her silence over a 2006 affair Daniels says they had.
Mr Trump denies the affair and has maintained his innocence, but experts have predicted that he could theoretically face more than a decade in prison if he is convicted.
However, the former president’s niece remains doubtful that Mr Trump will ever see the inside of a prison cell.
“I think the real split screen we need to think about is Donald Trump, presidential candidate for the Republican Party and Donald Trump, anti-American authoritarian wannabe,” Ms Trump said in an interview on MSNBC.
“And the problem is that we’re seeing that these are being treated as two entirely different people. It’s as if the fact that he is a criminal defendant, the fact that he committed alleged crimes against the United States of America have no impact whatsoever on his relevance or his standing as a candidate for the presidency.”
She added that it is “really troubling because it seems that there’s always a way out for him. There’s always somebody willing to bail him out. Even if it looks like there’s no escape…. And I don’t know it worries me quite honestly that as deep the trouble is that he’s in, it may not be enough.”
She went on to say she does not want to get “too excited” since the trial is still in “early days,” when asked by MSNBC how it feels to see her uncle face “accountability,” adding that Mr Trump has been able to “normalize outrageous, egregious behavior,” and make outlandish remarks without any proper liability.
“This is a trend that’s been happening for decades now. Donald is incredibly good at pushing the envelope and pulling back in those rare instances in which he gets pushed back. But usually what happens is he pushes the envelope, he breaks norms, he defies expectations, and he gets away with it,” she said. “So being who he is, he pushes the envelope some more to see what else he can get away with.”
Ms Trump has been a staunch critic of her uncle in recent months, previously calling him “unhinged” and saying “democracy will be over” if he becomes president again.
She previously published a book about Mr Trump titled: “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.”