You’ve heard of hot takes, but one Fox News pundit offered on Monday what might be called a “not take” ― as in “not close to reality at all.”
During an interview with Harris Faulkner about Donald Trump being allowed to post only $175 million to appeal his New York civic fraud trial verdict, attorney and Fox News host Emily Compagno suggested that, unlike Democrats, the former president doesn’t “disrespect the court” when he disagrees with a ruling.
After Faulkner noted that Trump promised to “abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash,” Compagno suggested with a straight face that it was proof Trump is more respectful of court decorum than his Democratic counterparts.
“I think it’s significant because it’s in contrast to what many members of the Democrat Party do, which is say ‘I’m not complying’ ― Hunter Biden, [or] ‘The Supreme Court Justices are off their rocker’ ― President Biden,” Compagno said. “We have a lot of examples of people who disrespect the court when they disagree with their ruling. President Trump is not one of them.”
Apparently, Compagno doesn’t read many news stories about Trump’s behavior toward judges, because the former president has a long and easily searched history of, well, attacking judges when he disagrees with them.
For instance, in 2016, Trump repeatedly expressed hostility toward Judge Gonzalo Curiel ― the Indiana-born judge handling the Trump University fraud case ― and accused him of being a “Trump-hater” who is “Mexican.”
During his recent New York civic fraud trial, Trump disparaged Judge Arthur Engoron and his staff, after which they received physical threats and messages filled with racist, sexist and antisemitic slurs.
And those are just the tip of the iceberg, based on the responses from people on X, formerly Twitter.