Eric Trump inadvertently condemned his father — failed one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump — during an interview with Fox host Sean Hannity Wednesday evening, and set off a torrent of commentary on social media.
Eric told Hannity that the media is “absolutely petrified” of his old man and claimed (incorrectly) that reporters had been “censoring my father since the minute he went down the escalator” in 2015 to announce his run for the White House.
But it was what Eric said next that raised eyebrows.
Hmm…that’s one hell of a Freudian slip. And Twitter/X users couldn’t resist pointing that out to Eric.
Social media erupted with laughter and mockery over the weekend in response to remarks made by Eric Trump in which he suggested the Trump Organization’s properties were the “Mona Lisas” of real estate.
During a Saturday appearance on Fox “News,” Eric insisted, “Our assets are worth a fortune,” and adding:
Despite Eric’s protestations, New York Attorney General Letitia James has already received a judgement of fraud against the Trump Organization and the company could be hit with fines and penalties that exceed a half billion dollars, which would likely lead to the complete dissolution of Trump Org.
However, it was the Mona Lisa comparison that drew the most reaction on Twitter.
After he concluded his second day of testimony in the business fraud trail brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, Eric Trump went on a bizarre, disjointed rant about murderers and potholes, suggesting that his daddy’s company, the Trump Organization, is one of the richest and most important in the United States because it employs thousands of people.
Eric began by defending his old man’s corporation, which he serves as an executive vice president for.
Then came the obligatory attack on James.
After complaining that James has a “Trump is in this court” every day, he added:
“At the same time, you have people getting shot in the streets. You had a little kid that got shot in the head in Times Square recently. You had people getting thrown in front of trains, in stations! The city is going to hell, guys. And I hate to say that I’m a person who left the city because it’s going down the tubes and it breaks my heart because there’s no place I love more in the world.”
Eric then borrowed a favorite phrase of his daddy’s: Rigged. Which is appropriate since the Trumps have been trying to rig everything in their favor for decades.
“But she’s using a broken system. She’s using a rigged system. And it’s very, very sad. And I know the truth will come out in the end. We haven’t done a single thing wrong. They’re trying to disqualify my father for 2024. He’s leading in all the polls. And it’s sad that this is the United States of America. And right now, make no mistake about it, maybe through your very lenses, the entire world is watching this and they’re laughing about what’s going on. The entire state of Florida right now, when they value a property like Mar-a-Lago and $18 million is laughing, is laughing at New York State and laughing at New York state attorney general and laughing at, quite frankly, a court system. Guys, we deserve better than this. Let’s get the murderers off the street. Let’s take care of the crime. Let’s rebuild our infrastructure. Everywhere you drive in New York, you hit a pothole and your car gets destroyed and they’re going after a guy who employs thousands of people in the state, employed them through COVID. The deepest, darkest times of this state, runs a great organization, literally puts food on the table for thousands of people.”
Why is the system rigged? Because the Trump family is finally being held accountable for their crimes and they’re furious to find out the law applies to everyone, including trust fund assholes like them.
Even if none of the Trumps wind up going to prison, seeing them financially bereft would in many ways be a satisfactory karmic victory.
During his testimony in the New York fraud trial Thursday, Eric Trump got extremely agitated by questions asked of him by prosecutor Andrew Amer, especially when Amer showed him emails that suggested he was aware that incorrect financial statements were filed on behalf of the Trump Organization.
MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin noted that Eric’s demeanor was markedly different from his brother, Don Jr., who testified Wednesday, telling host Chris Jansing:
“You noted earlier that Don Jr. on the stand principally deflected, denied responsibility, and put it all on the accountants and lawyers who guided him; he is a person who over the course of his life has been used to outsourcing things to other people,” Rubin continued. “But the problem is, as an officer of the company and particularly as a trustee of his father’s trust, there has to be a place where the buck stopped, and when his father was president, the buck stopped with he and Allen Weisselberg as the co co-trustees of the trust in which all the Trump Organization assets were put.”
Contrast that with Eric’s outburst, Rubin added:
“Eric on the other hand, when he took the stand, has been combative from the start,” she continued. “He doesn’t want to give an inch. He didn’t even want to admit that in 2012 he understood his father even had statements of financial condition. And so the attorney general is really working hard to establish that Eric understood that they sent their financial statements to other people outside the company who relied upon them, whether that’s members of a golf club in North Carolina that the Trumps purchased in 2012 or to banks and others.
“When Eric was about to get off the stand, he finally showed a flash of Trumpian anger and basically said, ‘Of course we have financial statements, we’re a major corporation!’ But he’s been generally calm and collected if not particularly generous in his testimony so far.”
Rubin explained on Twitter that Eric’s remarks are damaging for his father and the family company.
Eric finally cracks a little, raising his voice in saying, “We are a major corporation. Of course we had financial statements!”
And finally, Amer gets the admission he wants: that at least by the time of his 2013 communications with McConney, Eric understood that his father had statements of financial condition with which his help was needed.
That testimony makes it clear that Donald Trump was indeed part of manipulating those financial statements (which were inflated for the purpose of obtaining bank loans and then decreased to reduce the company’s tax bill). It also proves that Eric’s father personally requested “help” with them. That completely undermines the Trump defense that they had no idea fraud was taking place.
In other words, Eric destroyed his father’s key defense plank and gave prosecutors everything they need to impose a financial death penalty on the Trump Organization.
Though his official title at the Trump Organization is executive vice president, Eric Trump wants us all to believe that one of his main job duties while working for his father was “pouring concrete,” according to a deposition in the ongoing New York fraud trial that could leave the family-owned company penniless.
Eric has already given a deposition for the fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, and that was one of the topics of discussion today on “Deadline: White House.”
New York Times reporter Susanne Craig discussed Eric’s deposition and how it will be viewed by Judge Arthur Engogon, who will make the final decision on how large of a financial penalty to impose on Trump Org. AG James is seeking at least $250 million in fines and penalties.
Anchor Nicolle Wallace asked Craig about Eric’s deposition, specifically a section where he said:
“He goes on to say, Sue, ‘I don’t recall this. I pour concrete. I manage properties. I don’t focus on appraisals. It’s just not what I do in my day-to-day responsibilities.’ Obviously, the judge has already found the company liable for fraud. What kind of witness is Eric Trump?”
Craig replied:
“I think he’s going to be — for the attorney general, I mean — they’re being called as sort of hostile witnesses,” said Craig. “It’s interesting. I read through the depositions today, and I read through some of Don Jr.’s. I think we’re going to hear a lot of ‘I don’t remember’ and then a lot of pushback potentially about that. I mean, these are three individuals who are high executives at the company after their father left the company to go to the White House they got pay raises, you know? They’re making, each of them at the time, were making a few million, $2 million a year, roughly. I mean, they should be in on this.”
Then came a discussion of the disgraced ex-president’s son suggesting that he did much of the day-to-day physical work at the company, with Craig noting, “I don’t think Eric Trump was out pouring concrete. I mean, the last time they had a new project was 2008. So — and in terms of a full construction project, I mean, they’ve done some rehabs and stuff like that since. But he shouldn’t be pouring concrete if he’s making that much money. So what was he doing?”
She concluded:
“I think he’s going to get a lot of pushback on the statements that he doesn’t remember,” added Craig. “They said it so many times. Eric’s full deposition is, you know — is out there. I’ve read it. It was amazing how many times he said he just couldn’t remember. And these are properties like — Seven Springs is one he was intimately involved with. He lived there for a time. He has a long history with it. You know, I think the judge may find it hard to believe that he doesn’t remember.”
Eric Trump has never done an honest day’s work in his life. Neither has his father or any of the Trump spawn. They’re all professional grifters who deserve to be bankrupt and behind prison bars.