Stormy Daniels turned the tables on Trump. And he had to watch it happen.

[Nevilledog]

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/stormy-daniels-testimony-trump-rcna151359

This week the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has been sitting in a courtroom at 100 Center St. in New York, where adult film actor Stormy Daniels is testifying in Donald Trump’s criminal trial, including recounting the sexual encounter she had with him in a hotel room at Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Daniels’ testimony, which continues Thursday, has been the kind of history-making, norms-crushing, mind-bending scene Americans have grown inured to. On Tuesday, sitting about 10 feet away from Trump, Daniels testified: “There was an imbalance of power, for sure. but I was not threatened verbally or physically.” That imbalance was, at least for a few hours, tipped against Trump.

As a feminist, I was struck by just how deeply ironic it was to watch the man who ended millions of American women’s reproductive freedom face the woman whom he paid to silence. The list of allegations of Trump’s using his fame, wealth and status to impose himself on women is as long as it is lurid. More than a dozen women have accused him of sexual misconduct; unsurprisingly, he has denied all the claims. Last year, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in a Manhattan store in the mid-1990s. And, of course, there’s Trump’s boast on the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape: “When you’re a star, they let you do it.”

It was unsurprising then that as president, Trump laid the groundwork for the rollback of women’s autonomy. His three Supreme Court appointments were essential to ending the federal right to abortion. In Idaho, women are being airlifted out of state because doctors refused to save their lives. In Louisiana, a New Orleans public radio station reports, doctors are “delaying routine prenatal care” until the second trimester out of fear of being prosecuted for miscarriages. And Trump’s administration halted collection of data on equal pay and weakened Title IX protections.

In and out of office, then, overpowering women seems to be a theme for Trump. But this week, for a brief moment, the power dynamic was reversed, and Daniels had the opportunity to speak to the jurors and the judge and whoever else was sitting in the courtroom. She was able to tell the jury about Trump’s putting himself between her and the exit. She was able to share that afterward she was “shaking” and felt “ashamed that I didn’t stop it, that I didn’t say no.” For hours, Daniels held the room’s attention. Trump was president once, and he might be again in the future, but this time, Daniels was in control.

*snip*

[agingdem]

1. and because of her testimony under oath

Trump wants the gag order lifted so he can trash Daniels on social media , in the courthouse foyer, and at his Nazi "whine, sleaze, and Me" rallies ...and Merchan is letting Trump know any rebuttal will have to be as a witness and under oath...

Trump's lawyers are doing their damnedest to appease their client, going so far as to allow him to dictate their defense because they know if he takes the stand he will lie and the prosecution will delight in tearing Trump to shreds...

[lame54]

2. She spanked him again

[Irish_Dem]

3. Karma time for Trump.

The women he damaged will be his undoing.

[Woodwizard]

4. Donald Vonshitzinpantz

Has to be ready to just blow a gasket, I will not be surprised if he jumps up and has a major meltdown in court before it is all over.

Narcissistic people have a really hard time holding back from humiliating details about themselves. I am thoroughly enjoying this.

[Traurigkeit]

5. Dr. Mary Trump has bags of popcorn on hand

[Richard D]

7. I wonder . .

. . which mood stabilizer he is taking.

[republianmushroom]

6. Thank you, Ms. Daniels