‘That’s Just a Lie!’ CNN’s Daniel Dale Demolishes Trump’s Claim He’s ‘Not Allowed To Testify’
CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale demolished ex-President Donald Trump’s claim that the gag order against him means he’s “not allowed to testify!”
Trump spoke to reporters Thursday after the Stormy Daniels hush money-election interference trial wrapped up for the day and delivered a rant that included claiming four times that the gag order prevents him from testifying:
I’m not allowed to testify. I’m under a gag order…
I can’t even testify to that…
I’d love to answer the questions. A very easy question. The easiest question so far. But, I’m not allowed to testify…
So I’m not allowed to testify…
On Thursday’s edition of The Lead, anchor Jake Tapper tossed to Dale for a fact-check minutes after Trump’s rant — which did not air live on CNN — concluded:
TAPPER: Let’s bring in CNN’s Daniel Dale who’s fact checking what Donald Trump said — Daniel.
DANIEL DALE: Yeah, he kept saying he’s not allowed to testify. That is just a lie, Jake. He is absolutely permitted to testify in his own defense and this false claim, this lie is part of a pattern of former President Trump grossly exaggerating what the gag order actually says. He said at a campaign rally yesterday that because the gag order, he shouldn’t even be talking to you, his audience.
The gag order does nothing to prevent him from speaking to political audiences, from delivering social media posts about politics and policy, from speaking to the media. It does not prevent him from attacking the judge, the district attorney, prosecuting this case.
President Biden, his political opponent since it is narrowly restricted, it is tailored to three specific kinds of speech. He cannot talk about jurors in this case. He cannot talk about a reasonably foreseeable witnesses in this case with the specific intention of interfering with their participation in the case, and he can’t talk about court staff or their families, junior prosecutors, or their families, and so on.
So this claim that the gag order means he can testify, it just conjured out of thin air and its Trump has gone from saying that he will testify to he may be will testify to if it’s necessary to now, well, I can’t testify. It’s out of my hands.
But it’s in his hands. He can testify and he just making stuff up.
TAPPER: All right. Daniel Dale, thanks so much.
Watch above via CNN’s The Lead.
