A cadre of MAGA loyalists who had gathered to show their support for Donald Trump during his hush-money trial was shouted down by a bevy of cowbell-clanging anti-Trump protesters on Monday when they tried to speak outside a lower Manhattan courthouse.
In what has become a familiar scene, several of the former president’s allies appeared in New York City on Monday to rail against Trump’s prosecution and demonstrate their utter devotion to the 2024 White House hopeful. In recent days, a number of wannabe vice-presidential candidates and MAGA lawmakers have made the trek to curry favor with Trump and help him circumvent the judge’s gag order.
The group that flanked the twice-impeached ex-president this time around included South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, former New York police commissioner Bernie Kerik, ex-Trump administration official Kash Patel, Trump senior adviser Jason Miller, and Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA). All but Patel, meanwhile, were customarily decked out in Trump’s standard red tie and navy suit combo.
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When the Trump brigade gathered on Monday morning to speak to the press and deliver their statements of support for the former president, the boisterous crowd of protesters showered them with jeers and heckled them as “liars” and “traitors.”
“I wanted this country to understand that prosecutors around the country are calling the sham trial exactly what it is: a sham trial,” Wilson kicked off the presser. “When I was the prosecutor in South Carolina, I was taught that a real prosecutor doesn’t prosecute people. They prosecute conduct. What we’re seeing today is the prosecution of a person because of who he is.”
With boos raining down on Wilson, one demonstrator could be heard shouting “go home you carpetbagging fools.” Another protester who camped out behind the pro-Trump speakers with a large “Bootlickers” sign relentlessly blew a whistle while ringing a cowbell. According to independent reporter Jacqueline Sweet, the man was given a citation by law enforcement for “too much cowbell.”
Patel, who is expected to take a senior White House role if Trump returns to power, portrayed the ex-president as a victim of an “unconstitutional weaponization of justice.” It was difficult to hear what he had to say as the crowd chanted: “Kash Patel, Go To Hell!” Kerik was also subjected to targeted insults when he spoke, with protesters calling him a “bald-headed bigot” throughout his comments.
According to New York Magazine correspondent Oliva Nuzzi, the Trump-hating crowd also took aim at the speakers for dressing just like the former president, prompting them to call the MAGA group “red tie terrorists.” She added that the demonstrators even got a laugh from Miller, who chuckled when one protester wondered if they had bought their suits at “Dictators R Us.”
