OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump has opened up about his decision regarding whether he plans to take the stand in the civil case filed against him by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
During a lunch break on day two of the trial on Tuesday, Trump said he planned to testify “at the appropriate time,” Newsmax reported, adding that Trump is a witness for both himself and the prosecution in the $250 million civil case.
“Yes, I will” testify at the trial, Trump told reporters in remarks during the lunch break on day two of the trial Tuesday. “At the appropriate time, I will be,” he added.
“I think it’s going very well,” he continued when asked to assess the trial so far.
“There was absolutely no fraud,” Trump said before criticizing James as corrupt. “They all made money. They’re all happy, 100% happy.”
Trump also repeated a previous argument regarding the fact that his accountants always added a disclaimer of “buyer beware” at the end of his financial statements.
“It says, ‘Please, you must understand that you have to do your own due diligence and you have to, above all, do your own research and analysis: Do not rely on anything; do not rely on the financial statements,'” Trump noted further. “Also, the financial statements are very strong in terms of cash liquidity and everything else.
“This case is a scam. There can’t be fraud when you’ve told institutions to do their own work. This case is a fraud and scam,” he noted further.
The trial is expected to last into December, the report said.
Trump has also accused James and others who have filed charges against him of engaging in “election interference” as he has soared to the top of the polls for the GOP presidential nomination and, in a growing number of surveys, even surpassing President Joe Biden.
“Trump took the support of 50% of respondents in the latest InsiderAdvantage survey. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis placed second with 15% while former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley narrowly trailed him with 14%. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie placed fourth with 5% while tech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy earned 3% support,” Just The News reported on Monday.
IA Chairman Matt Towery said: “DeSantis and Haley are the only remaining viable candidates of the current field of candidates. In my opinion the debates are having a diminishing impact on the race. Absent some major unexpected shakeup, it appears Donald Trump is the prohibitive favorite to win the GOP nomination.”
Meanwhile, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchison, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum all received 1 percent support.
Just The News noted that the results of the survey showed Trump surged 5 percent over the previous poll, while DeSantis dropped 3 percent and Haley gained as much. In August, Ramaswamy’s support was at 7 percent but it fell by half during the latest survey.
Meantime, President Joe Biden and his predecessor appear to be headed for a rematch of their 2020 contest. And for now, anyway, it’s anyone’s race, despite Trump’s multiple indictments, two of which were brought by a special counsel named by Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland.
A September survey from The Wall Street Journal found that Biden and Trump are in a dead heat. The poll asked: “If the 2024 general election for President were held today and the candidates were Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, for whom would you vote?”
Both received 46 percent, but notably, that is a one-point increase for Trump and a two-point decrease for Biden since April, the WSJ noted.
“The survey also asked respondents who they would choose in a matchup between Trump, Biden, Green Party candidate Cornel West, and Libertarian Lars Mapstead. In that scenario, Trump leads Biden by a single percentage point— 40 percent to 39 percent. Two percent chose West, one percent chose Mapstead, and 17 percent remain undecided,” Breitbart News added, citing the survey.
“As has been consistent in virtually every other survey, Trump leads in the Republican primary race by double digits with 59 percent support. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis falls 46 points behind with 13 percent support. That reflects a massive shift since April, when 24 points separated the two, as Trump saw 48 percent support to the Florida governor’s 24 percent,” the outlet continued.
