It’s not quite like The New York Times is putting former President Donald Trump on trial.
But it is the lens through which the vast majority of jurors see the world.
The Times reported on the media preference of jurors chosen for the trial of former President Donald Trump on charges he falsified business records in connection with payments made in 2016.
Aside from vast domination by the Times, which was mentioned as a prime news source by eight of the 12 jurors and five of the six alternates, there were some jurors who took their news from less anti-Trump sources. Given the need for a unanimous verdict, the media preferences could be a sign that unanimity might be hard to achieve, unless the prosecution proves its case.
Juror 2, for example, follows Truth Social and X, both social media sites.
Juror 4 indicated he or she tunes out all of the media listed.
Jurors in Trump Hush-Money Trial are mainly NY Times readers who don’t read or watch conservative news media. Is this a jury of peers? https://t.co/fbpYXfde4Q
— nycreligion.info (@nycreligioninfo) April 20, 2024
The importance of the media preference was noted by the Times.
Will you be watching Trump’s trial closely?
Yes: 66% (247 Votes)
No: 34% (126 Votes)
“With limited information about the jury pool, what a prospective juror reveals about what they read, watch and listen to can signal their political leanings,” the Times reported.
The Times report noted media outlets with more than one mention (jurors could check more than one box), included CNN, the Wall Street Journal, TikTok, Google, Facebook, The Washington Post and the BBC.
The trial will begin Monday with opening arguments.
Trump, who has been mostly silent in the courtroom all week, spoke out about the trial on Truth Social on Saturday.
“THIS SCAM ‘RUSHED’ TRIAL TAKING PLACE IN A 95% DEMOCRAT AREA IS A PLANNED AND COORDINATED WITCH HUNT THAT COULD HAVE BEEN BROUGHT 8 YEARS AGO, BUT EVERYBODY PASSED. INSTEAD THEY WAITED AND BROUGHT IT RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF MY PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE WORST AND MOST INCOMPETENT PRESIDENT EVER, CROOKED JOE BIDEN. IT IS BEING PRESIDED OVER BY POSSIBLY THE MOST CONFLICTED JUDGE IN JUDICIAL HISTORY, WHO MUST BE REMOVED FROM THIS HOAX IMMEDIATELY. I DID NOTHING WRONG!” he posted.
People who have been seated on the jury have all sorts of anti-Trump and pro-Biden stuff all over their social media. They cannot be impartial. The judge knows this and he still refused to excuse them.
This trial was rigged the moment this judge who donated to Biden and whose…
— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) April 17, 2024
Trump also exploded about the trial on Friday, criticizing Judge Juan Merchan, who is hearing the case.
“Judge Merchan is ‘railroading’ me, at breakneck speed, in order to completely satisfy his ‘friends.’ Additionally, he has ‘GAGGED’ me so that I cannot talk about the most important of topics, including his totally disqualifying conflict of interest, and taking away my Constitutional Right of Free Speech,” Trump posted.
“Almost every Legal Scholar and Expert has stated that there is ‘NO CASE,’ that this is a SCAM brought about by a Corrupt District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, who has let Violent Crime in New York flourish at levels never seen before, working with Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ, IN ORDER TO HARM HIS POLITICAL OPPONENT, ME. THIS IS ELECTION INTERFERENCE AT A LEVEL NEVER SEEN BEFORE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. MAGA2024!” Trump posted.
