Mug Shots & Politics - podcast episode cover

Mug Shots & Politics

Aug 25, 202332 min
--:--
--:--
Listen in podcast apps:

Episode description

Bloomberg Washington Correspondent Joe Mathieu delivers insight and analysis on the latest headlines from the White House and Capitol Hill, including conversations with influential lawmakers and key figures in politics and policy.
On this edition, Joe speaks with:

  • State Attorney for Palm Beach County Dave Aronberg discusses whether or not any of former president Donald Trump's 18 Co-Defendants will "flip" on him.
  • Bloomberg Politics Contributors Jeanne Sheehan Zaino & Rick Davis break down Trump's ability to campaign during his legal battles.
  • Bloomberg Politics reporter Ryan Teague Beckwith Beckwith talks about the impact a mug shot can have.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Speaker 1

You're listening to the Bloomberg Sound on podcast. Catch us live weekdays at one Eastern on Bloomberg dot com, the iHeartRadio app and the Bloomberg Business app, or listen on demand wherever you get your podcast.

Speaker 2

It lasted all of twenty minutes. A big surrender yesterday in Atlanta, Donald J. Trump, prisoner number P zero one, one three, five eighth nine in the Fulton County Jail. Pretty remarkable to see it happen, even though we knew it was all going to happen.

Speaker 3

As I read from the terminal.

Speaker 2

Shortly after we entered the facility, his name appeared in its database, recording his height as six ' three apparently self reported, and weight of two hundred and fifteen pounds not bad, hair color as blonde or strawberry, and assigned in inmate number. Donald Trump spoke to reporters on the tarmac as he got back to the airport following his life.

Speaker 4

When you have that great freedom to challenge, you have to be able to otherwise you can have very dishonest elections.

Speaker 3

What has taken place here is a travesty of justice. We did nothing wrong. I did nothing.

Speaker 2

Wrong, and he did an interview later on on Newsmax, talking about the whole experience. Even as the mug shot was turned into merchandise, and you saw this coming, they were selling fake versions of the mug shot.

Speaker 3

At one point.

Speaker 2

Indeed, the Trump Save America Joint fundraising Committee out with T shirts, mugs, beverage coolers, bumper stickers, and other merchandise. Twelve dollars for the bumper sticker up to thirty six that's the premium long sleeve T shirt. Former president asked on Newsmax a couple hours after. I guess he got home by the time he did the interview, because they sure waited around for a while.

Speaker 3

What was it like in jail, mister President.

Speaker 1

Terrible experience.

Speaker 4

I came in. I was treated very nicely, but it is what it is. I took a mugshot, which I never heard the words mugshot. That was didn't teach me that the works.

Speaker 2

I'm thinking he did know about the mugshot, didn't Rudy tell him. So we have a couple of voices to help us understand what's going on here. It's Eric Larson, of course, Bloomberg Legal reporter. We're going to talk next as well with the State attorney for Palm Beach County, mister Dave Ehrenberg. Eric joins us from World Headquarters in New York, Eric Larson, Great to have you back. Not a lot really happened yesterday. It was a twenty minute affair.

But to actually see the mugshot, to see the expression on his face, to watch it all happen in what, by the way, is not a very nice jail, was quite remarkable. What do you think the experience was like for him when we couldn't see inside, I'd say.

Speaker 5

It was probably a bit humbling for mister Trump, probably like it is for anyone who's going into a jail to be booked, but probably more so for him. He wasn't booked quite like that, and didn't have his mugshot taken in the three other criminal cases that he's facing, of course, and this was his first time, and there was also, of course a question about whether or not

he even would have a mugshot taken. I'm sure his lawyers probably tried pretty hard to negotiate that away, but it didn't happen, And of course we see from the expression on his face he was looking pretty stern and defiant, and I think he's doing his best to use the image to his advantage, but I'm sure it was pretty humbling.

Speaker 2

We should note, Eric, the deadline has passed. Everyone did surrender, correct.

Speaker 5

That is correct. All nineteen defendants in the case have now surrendered. They've been booked. One individual at Harrison Floyd, he's the former director of Black Voices for Trump, did not reach a bond and is currently in custody, so we'll see what happens with that. But everyone else was able to get a bond agreement and was able to leave the jail after their booking.

Speaker 2

So the surrender date August twenty four. Here, we do not have an arraignment date set apparently. How's that going to work?

Speaker 5

We don't know. We don't have any dates yet other than the one that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis gave when she said that she envisions the arraignments happening the week of September fifth, which is a Tuesday after our holiday. So theoretically she could be planning for all of them to happen that week, or that could just

be the start of arraignments happening. We're not exactly sure, but that's The big question when will these arraignments happen, When will especially mister Trump appear in court in Atlanta to enter his plea, presumably of not guilty.

Speaker 2

They do them differently in Georgia. Right in Fulton County, because we've seen him showing up for arraignments. In this case, they had him go to the jail. Is that what would have happened to anybody else?

Speaker 5

Yeah, he was treated just like everyone else in Fulton County as far as we can tell. In other cases in New York, in Washington, Federal Court in Florida and federal court. You know, he was able to sort of go in and do a fingerprinting and be formally sort of booked at the court just before for his arraignment. So didn't work out for him that way quite here.

So as much as yesterday was a circus with this twenty minutes in jail, it's going to be even more so when he actually arrives in court to go before a judge and enter his plea. And I think it's going to be a much more significant day, you.

Speaker 3

Better believe it. Eric.

Speaker 2

Thank you so much for all of your great reporting and analysis here throughout the process. We actually got four of them done with Eric Larson, and I would argue we got four done with Dave Ehrenberg. He's back with us now State attorney for Palm Beach County. David's great to see you, always a pleasure to talk. I'm wondering your thoughts. I don't know if you've ever been in the Fulton County jail. For your sake, I hope not, because I'm told as I read here, this is not

a very nice place. It stinks, it's probably not very clean. Former president walks in there with the shiny shoes and the suit on. I don't know what he was plenty to do in that mug shop, but he sure didn't look happy about what was going on.

Speaker 6

He did not be back with you. By the way, I'm also six foot three, two fifteen and my other I knew that right.

Speaker 1

You know.

Speaker 6

My other car is a Lamborghini, you know, so the one you don't see me drive. I wasn't totally surprised that he took the mug shot that he was forced to, but keep in mind it was optional. Really, the sheriff has a discretion, and the sheriff could have just said we're not doing it, just like it was waived in

the other jurisdictions. And the reason why he didn't need to take one is because the mugshot is really used to in case you go on the lamb, in case you're become become a fugitive and they need to identify you. But when you're the most famous slash infamous person in the world, there's really no need to have the mug shot. So yeah, I thought it was interesting that he took one. I'm not surprised you only spent twenty hour, twenty minutes

in that rat infested jail. Perhaps this will be an impetus for authorities to look at that place a little more closely. It's supposed to be one of the worst in the country.

Speaker 2

Yeah, he had to have practiced the mug shot, right, He was doing that in the mirror. He knew exactly what that was gonna look like. Am I wrong?

Speaker 7

Well?

Speaker 6

I thought going in he was going to do the Tom Delay thing. Remember Tom DeLay's mug shot, which he had a right smile, right, he wore his congressional pan. It looked like his congressional headshot. But it's his mugshot. Now, I do agree. I think this was rehearsed in practice. I was surprised he went with a menacing look. He and Rudy Giuliani. Yeah, but you know, it wasn't the worst of all of them. I thought it was pretty bad, but I thought the worst was John Eastman, and even worse,

perhaps was Sidney Palell. Did you see hers?

Speaker 5

Ye?

Speaker 1

Oh my gosh.

Speaker 6

That one looked a little bit like the movie poster for a clockwork orange Malcolm McDowell, did you remember that?

Speaker 8

Are you old enough?

Speaker 3

Yes? I am. I would not have gone there. But that's why we bring.

Speaker 2

In Dave Ehrenberg for these beautiful analogies. By the way, if you haven't seen The Batman Bad Guy mock, they've put this together on social media each and you know, they've made Rudy into the penguin. That's it's actually, it's just remarkable, this world of social media we live in.

Speaker 3

Where would we do this otherwise? But Dave, what happens next?

Speaker 2

They're going to have to have an arraignment, as we were discussing with Eric Larsen, So he's going to be back there in a couple of weeks.

Speaker 6

Yeah, so in Georgia, just like in Florida, you have the first appearance and then you come back to the arrangement. We saw them both combined in the federal cases. But yeah, I do think it'll be a bigger deal when he comes in and he has to say not guilty. He will be pleading not guilty, and and that should be televised. If that's the benefit of this case. In Georgia, everything should be transparent and televised, as compared to federal court

and state court in New York, where it's not. I really do think we need to come forward to the twenty first century and start televising these things because otherwise, well all the conspiracy theorists out there, there's just a made up narrative, alternate facts, and you don't get the real scoop of what's going on. And it's so easy to put cameras in there. I mean, come on, we're not living in nineteen fifties anymore. This is easy to do.

And I think the federal courts and the state New York courts should get over themselves and just you know, just allow people to see behind the walls there.

Speaker 3

You're here, Well, that's there's a lot there.

Speaker 2

Dave, and I sure, hope that would happen, although I don't have very high hopes.

Speaker 3

Georgia.

Speaker 2

Yeah, the rest we'll see. But we've got business to take care of on Monday. And I wonder your thoughts on this move by Mark Meadows to move this to federal court. The US District judge in Atlanta will hear arguments over this on Monday.

Speaker 3

What's going to happen?

Speaker 6

You know, I think it's about a twenty percent chance he succeeds. Now, his chance of moving it to to a federal court, which is called removal, is better than any other of the nineteen defendants because Mark Meadows was working for the government at the time he did this, and he was setting up meetings like his job. And but the problem for Meadows is that the meetings he was setting up were not for Trump to be Trump as president. It was Trump as a candidate. It was

trying to overturn the election. That's not under the color of the law, as they say, that's not a proper duty for the president or for the chief of staff. And in Fannie Willis's indictment, in her forty one kind indictments, she was pretty clear that Mark Medows was doing things that were way beyond his proper role as chief of staff. He was going to other states talking to state legislators

about overturning the election. So I think it's unlikely he succeeds, but he definitely has the best chance of any of them to get it done. And even if it does succeed, keep in mind, it just means that they won't be cameras in the courtroom. It will be a federal judge, a more conservative jury pool, but it will still be a state prosecution under state laws. And the conviction, if there is one, will be pardon proof. It cannot be pardoned by a president.

Speaker 3

Fascinating stuff here. By the way, there's more on Monday.

Speaker 2

This really gives us a sense of what our future is like here for the next year. Judge Chuckkin is going to hold her first hearing in the election interference case here in Washington, expected to announce a trial date and schedule.

Speaker 3

What's your thought there, Dave.

Speaker 6

I think that's going to be the first trial to go. Judge chuck In. Yeah, she's like on a rocket docket. She is not putting up with any guph and she's moving forward, and I expect that to be the first trial, and I think that will happen before the election. And if you twist my arm, I think the other trial before the election will be the New York trial, which

is the weakest of the four cases surrounding Trump. I think the Document's case, which I think is the strongest case of the four, won't happen until after the election. Same with the Fulton County case, the Cheeseborough slash Chesburro case that's being separated from the others, and that's gonna happen in late October, so we'll see that. But as far as Trump, I don't think he gets put on trial for his Rico case in Georgia until after the election.

Speaker 3

Wow.

Speaker 2

But that means that something happens before the election, because there does seem to be this growing belief, Dave, that none of these trials will begin until after we vote in twenty twenty four.

Speaker 6

No, I think you'll have two criminal trials completed, and I think you will have the civil cases completed, which is the one in New York with the Attorney General, which is a civil case, not a criminal one, and then you have another trial in e Gen Carroll defamation case.

So you're going to still have a bunch of things before the election, and you know, the Republican primary voters will get to decide whether they want someone who has been convicted or acquitted or a Hungary to be their nominee by then, and it looks like they're all ready to support someone even if he's convicted. I mean even his opponents would support him if he's convicted. So there's that.

Speaker 2

So when does flipper season begin? Dave, You look at all of those mugshots eighteen co defendants. I know it's not going to be Rooty Juliani, but when are we talking about somebody who cuts a.

Speaker 6

Deal sooner than later. The reason why Fani willis my counterpart there in Fulton County indicted nineteen people was she was hoping that some of them are going to flip early on. I don't think it's possible to have a trial of all nineteen at the same time unless you do it in the Atlanta Hawks arena, And so I think that she will get a bunch to flip. There's an adage first in first to win, the first one through the prosecutor's door gets the best deal, and then

she'll use them as key witnesses against the others. So hey, business is open. I think you'll start to see people start going through her door because time's a waste them.

Speaker 2

That's going to be a big day when that happens. In the meantime, you look at a day like Monday and you just get a sense of how crowded the schedule is going to be. How busy is Donald Trump's legal team going to be as it tries to address four trials, four cases, actually even more than that at once, or are they going to be separate legal teams for the duration?

Speaker 1

You know?

Speaker 6

I think he is separating them up a bit. He has the criminal team, he's got civil, and then there's four different criminal cases. I mean, I don't know anyone who's ever faced this kind of legal threat of civil and criminal, and of course, at the same time he's running for this important position with presidents. I don't know how he does it all, but he's going to do it, and I think it just means that it's going to be so much harder for him to prevail in a

general election. Yes, this stuff helps him in a primary. His base loves it. I mean, nothing fuels the mag of movement than martyrdom in grievance, but that doesn't work in a general election. You got all these suburban moms out there who are looking at this like, hey, this is nuts. And so I don't think this is going to go well for him in the end politically, and I think he will be found guilty of at least some of these charges, like over ninety of them if you combine in the four cases.

Speaker 2

Amazing and always a great conversation with Dave Ehrenberg. We learned something every time we talked the state attorney for Palm Beach County, Dave. Great to have you back and thank you.

Speaker 1

You're listening to The Bloomberg Sound on podcast. Catch the program live weekdays at one eastern on Bloomberg Radio, the tune in alf Bloomberg dot Com, and the Bloomberg Business App. You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship New York station, Just say Alexa play Bloomberg eleven thirty.

Speaker 2

A lot of people still stuck on six ' three, two hundred and fifteen pounds.

Speaker 3

I guess strawberry or blonde is how you.

Speaker 2

Would describe the hair right front page of the New York Post today. Pretty remarkable, no headline, just the mugshot. As we assemble our panel here on a Friday, Rick Davis and Jeanie Shanzeno or with us here of course, Bloomberg Politics contributors. Happy Friday to both of you. It's not the first time we've had an event like this where we knew exactly what was going to happen. No surprise is yet it was still remarkable to watch because

of the historical significance here. Genie, I guess self reporting your your your height, and your weight, though, is a pretty good thing for Donald Trump. I guess it could have gone worse at the jail yesterday.

Speaker 9

Huh, that's right. And you know, I personally am in favor of all self reporting of height and weight, so I have to back him on that one. I too, am a strawberry blonde. You know it was you know, you look at you look at that picture, and you know, you know, somebody described it looked like he was going to headbut somebody it looks menacing, glowering. You know, it is. It is quite remarkable, and it's hard to argue with people who say, out of all the billions of pictures

taken up, Donald Trump over the years. This is the one that will sustain beyond the campaign and the mugs and.

Speaker 7

The T shirts.

Speaker 9

It is quite stark reminder of this chaotic presidency, this chaotic post presidency, and where we are in America today in a very sad way.

Speaker 2

Well, what do you think, Rick, somebody talked to him, I'm assuming about the way he would do this. He clearly was mugging if you will in the mirror before the shot. Would you have told your candidate to smile?

Speaker 8

God, I hope.

Speaker 10

I'm never in the position to advise a candidate who's getting indeted to do anything that's just actually just the question shocking.

Speaker 3

We actually found something that hasn't done everyone.

Speaker 10

Yeah, I mean just just nuts. Yeah, I mean, this is a face he's used before, right, I mean, this is his scal I saw a Maggie Haberman interview, who watches Donald Trump closer than anybody I know, and She's like, yeah, he practices that all the time. I've seen it throughout the years. You know, this is sort of a catch, you know, look for for Donald Trump. So it's nothing new, and I'm sure a lot of it is like what

do I want on the T shirt? At the end of the day, because that's the way he thinks, Right, what am I going to make out of this? So you know, it's I think the whole thing was just sort of a circus in the sense that, you know, he knew what was going to happen, everybody else knew what was going to happen, and there was actually no surprises. I mean, I don't think anything happened that anybody's actually waking up today saying wow, I'm surprised by that, to see.

Speaker 2

The prisoner number, to see the mugshot, although that is the old apprentice look, right. We used to see it every night, and certainly he has been honing that look for a long time. It's it's gonna help him raise money. Geenie, we're already looking. You knew this was coming. The merchandising has already begun here, and we're going I guess, from twelve dollars for the bumper sticker to thirty six dollars for the long sleeved T shirt.

Speaker 3

I'm sure you'll have the crop tops and so forth.

Speaker 2

Is this actually gonna make money for him?

Speaker 9

Yeah, don't don't talk about crop tops, Joe. It is going to make money that he desperately needs because of course his legal bills are enormous, and it's not just his legal bills, it's his you know, co conspirators, it's it's witnesses, it's others. So he desperately needs that money. And Joe, I know you've been paying close attention to truth Social but of course last night just went on X for the first time in a long time and posted that much shot. All the way down from New Jersey.

He was reminding people that he's going to be arrested, which is not quite accurate when he got down to Georgia. So they understand the need to make as much money as they can off of this, and they're going to be pushing for it. You know, I think it's, you know, making lemonade out of lemons, I guess, is what he's trying to do.

Speaker 2

The former president did hold an interview. He might have heard me mention this at the beginning of the hour. I went on Newsmax, called in very late, but got on there to talk about what kind of a day he had.

Speaker 4

You know, I went to an experience today that I never thought i'd have to go to. But then I've gone through the same experience three other times. In my whole life, I didn't know anything about indictment, and now I've been indicted like four times.

Speaker 2

When he was asked again about how all of this went yesterday inside the Fulton County jail, he said it was terrible, but he was treated very well. That image is likely to become a touchstone of the campaign. It already is, and based on what we were just discussing with Rick and Jennie, it could be a money maker. There's a new poll out as well today that I want to mention Politico magazine getting together with IPSOS.

Speaker 3

Does everyone have a poll?

Speaker 2

I guess so at this point showing this is a remarkable number and something I was hoping to ask Rick and Genie about. Roughly sixty percent of Americans think the cases against Donald Trump on the mishandling of classified documents and attempting to overturn the election results, those two cases

should go to trial before the election. And we know that Fani Willis wants to get this done starting in October, which is probably not likely, but if you just listened to Dave Ehrenberg, he actually thinks at least two of these trials could be complete by the time we get to the election. We'll have more on some of the other elements of this poll. This day, after Donald Trump turned himself in to be booked on criminal charges over his efforts again allegedly to overturn the election results.

Speaker 3

Rick Davis is back with us here.

Speaker 2

Rick, I was trying to put the pieces together on what's going to be an incredibly busy Monday. We've got hearings in two different cities, two different cases. This is the very scenario that you were talking about that's going to be very difficult for this campaign to manage. In the throes of a presidential campaign effort. There could be days where we have four hearings at once. How do

you map all of that out? How do you prepare to address all of this at once while remaining in front of the voters.

Speaker 3

Yeah.

Speaker 10

No, this is like a campaign manager's worst nightmare. Not only is your candidate taken out of the political domain and put into a courtroom or in this case, that you have to devote resources of your campaign money and people to dealing with these issues, about all the preparatory work that has to be done with the Canada's time.

Speaker 9

So you know, you.

Speaker 10

Usually, you know, moan and groan over debates.

Speaker 11

Oh you got a you know, an hour a day for a week, we got a debate prep You imagine the enormous amount of time it takes for these lawyers to sit down with Donald Trump, who is a micro manager in the worst day, right, I.

Speaker 10

Mean, like, he's not going to let these guys say one thing in court that he hasn't approved, which means hours and hours a day of legal phone calls and zooms where the candidate himself has to be so distracted that he's got to focus on his own legal problems and that will affect his performance on the stump. He'll go out into a big rally and all he's gonna want to do is talk about his trials, because that's

all he's talked about all day long. I mean, it's going to be a nightmare for the campaign staff.

Speaker 3

How do you do it?

Speaker 2

Jeannie also back with a Genie shanzeno, how do you even plan a week around all of these court dates? I mean, we're going to be talking more about the court dates than what he's doing as a presidential candidate.

Speaker 9

That's right, And you know, I feel badly for his campaign staff. It is mind boggling to imagine any individual having the wherewithal the energy to devote to one of these trials, let alone for let alone trying to run for president again. It's it's mind numbing to think about. I don't know how you plan for it, but I do agree with Rick, We're going to hear an awful lot those times he does get on the campaign trail

about these trials. And of course the loser in all of this is the American public, and I think also the Republican Party because this just devastates their chances in so many avenues, and not just at the top of the ticket, but think about the US Senate, where they really should pick up in twenty four. They are at risk now in the House and as we go down ballot.

So it's a disaster for the Republican Party. I think it's this continues at the rate it is, and what we saw last night with the circus following him to Atlanta and back, well, it's.

Speaker 2

Going to be a circus for the next year at least, probably longer. And thank god we've got Rick Davis and Jeanie Shanzeto to help us survive all of it, because We're going to need some serious analysis along the way, and you know you can count on that. Here they're back with more next, because we haven't heard much from

President Biden. He's still on vacation at Lake Tahoe, even as the administration gets together with others in the financial community, including of course the Federal Reserve and Jackson Hole to talk Bidenomics inflation, and that's all coming up next.

Speaker 1

You're listening to the Bloomberg Sound on podcast. Catch us live weekdays at one Eastern on Bloomberg dot com, the iHeartRadio app, and the Bloomberg Business app, or listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 2

Ryan Teague beckwith who just stopped by Bloomberg Politics Reporter. I won't kill you at the economics here, but it's obviously a pretty big deal. On the campaign trail, we heard a lot about the economy from Republican candidates on the debate stage the other night. Joe Biden's try and like heck to sell Bidenomics. Is the Fed going to make this impossible for him?

Speaker 3

Or or will the Fed enable him by orchestrating a soft landing? I guess is the question.

Speaker 8

You know, it's interesting I looked into this a while ago, and the research shows that unemployment obviously hurts a politician who's running for reelection somewhat like you know that you can see people lose reelection because unemployment was too high, but inflation is way worse. People really get mad at

incumbents when inflation is bad. So I think, you know, even though that dual mandate makes it a little tricky when you're trying to fight inflation and keep them you know, unemployment and of manage both of those, I think it's really in his best interest that they do whatever it

takes to get inflation down. And if real wages are growing at the same time, which they keep ragging about and we've seen in some of the recent numbers but we haven't seen in the polling numbers, then you know, if by this time next year people start to feel that their dollar is going further, then that should help him with his reelection.

Speaker 2

So Leicester's line, a master's line, easy for me to say, is exactly what the administration wants.

Speaker 7

Theoretically, though, I've had many conversations with people who say the credit that you get when the economy is doing well is actually far less than the blame you will get when it is not. So even if we see an improvement in the economy, it might not actually register in the minds of voters to the extent that dissatisfaction

with the economy does. So obviously, this is something that I'm sure we can expect Republicans to continue beating on the campaign trail talking about Bidenomics and the current president. But while we were focused on that and Jackson Hole, today we were focused on the former president and Fulton County. Yesterday we got the mug shot Ryan, is it working for him?

Speaker 8

You know, if you remember, there was a photo where Angela Merkele was like, you know, trying to like convince Trump of something, and he's sitting at a desk with his arms crossed, and and that photo to me, just encapsulated everything about Trump. Because if you hated Trump, that just summed it up. Look, there's like all of Europe basically yelling at Trump and he's racalcitrant, right, And if you like Trump, that photo summarized everything you liked about Trump.

Speaker 3

Look, here's all of Europe yelling at Trump.

Speaker 8

He's trent, right. So I think that that mugshot is the same way like it's just a it's a rorshack. It's like a national rorshack. You either you look at this and you either think, h look at this guy, or you look you look at it and you go, oh, look at this guy. Right like you, there's no in between. And I don't think that it helps him or hurts him. Obviously, his campaign is selling merchandise with it on it. And

he's not alone in that. Rick Perry was arrested and had a mug shot and had his campaign put out T shirts with his mug shot on one side and a DUI that the DA who had authorized the charges against him on the other.

Speaker 1

Side of it.

Speaker 3

To blaze the trail.

Speaker 8

Yeah, I mean and actually really blazing the day.

Speaker 3

Eugene V.

Speaker 8

Dabs, who ran for president as a socialist in nineteen twenty from prison, had buttons campaign buttons showing what was essentially a mug shot for him and his inmate number on it.

Speaker 2

I just wonder what Donald Trump, which one Trump had in his mind. There's the famous Frank Sinatra mug shot. You can buy posters of that anywhere. There's also the John Gotti mug shot, and he owned that with a big grin and a lot of folks thought Donald Trump might do the same thing. I wonder if he did in fact plan for that, if he was practicing that in the mirror, or if he had such a bad time in that stinky jail and he was actually really angry.

Speaker 8

Now I think that he wanted the stern look. You know, prosecutors have said it's very risky to smile in a mug shot because it can it can send the message that you don't take the charge seriously, and jury's may punish you for that. I know that two of the people who were his also indicted in Georgia. Two of them were smiling, and one of them is the former head of the state Goop who then made that his Twitter profile pick his mugshot and he is smiling, right,

And so those those folks are definitely doing that. Johnna elis the other that that can make a jury mad at you if they think that you just think this is all a joke, and especially damaging for people like pulled over for a dui. That's part of the other thing where most mugshots are not. You don't get the chance to show up. You get pulled over because you were drinking and driving and and you know the James Brown mugshot, it's like.

Speaker 2

It's usually the worst of your life, or Nick Nolty, it's the worst day of your life, and you don't look good in it.

Speaker 8

And so the fact that he's allowed to sort of pick out the outfit and put on the flag pin and those kinds of things and show up at it when he wants, I think this is a much more of a staged photo than your typical mug shot.

Speaker 7

Well, and Fannie Willis kind of said that when Mark Meadows was fighting the deadline of today at noon, when he didn't want to have to show up, then she said, I've been very generous in her response that we had two full weeks for you guys to show up, and kind of speaks to your exact point. Ryan, just quickly you said that you don't think the mugshot really like moves the needle for the president in any way, did anyone really move the needle this week? Because of course

that wasn't the only event. We got the debate behind us as well.

Speaker 8

We had the debate, and it was a weird debate because Trump was sort of a spectral presence at it. It was more of a seance really to see if they could sort of bring his spirit into the room.

And he did come knocking a few times, but it really was it was odd for how much of the debate didn't focus on Trump see ahead by four points, and how you know, there were a couple of candidates who were willing to get in their digs at him, Isa Hutchinsay and Chris Christ obviously Mike Pens to some extent, but really a lot more I thought a lot more potential there for Avek Ramaswami, who was just has so little known name recognition. He had a lot more to go.

Speaker 2

Yeah, he seems to be on the ascent. We'll see how long that lasts and who gets on the debate stage also in.

Speaker 7

September twenty seventh.

Speaker 3

We really need to rest up for September.

Speaker 2

I feel like it's been the theme of this hour. Kaylee, Ryan teeg Beck with always a great pleasure. Thank you, sir Bloomberg Politics Reporter. Find him on the terminal here in Washington. This is Bloomberg.

Speaker 3

Thanks for listening to the sound on podcast.

Speaker 2

Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already, at Apple, Spotify, and anywhere else you get your podcasts, and you can find us live every weekday from Washington, DC at one pm Eastern Time at Bloomberg dot com

Transcript source: Provided by creator in RSS feed: download file