OPINION: Will Trump testify?

May 11—I am sure all my friends in the Connecticut Republican Party join me in hoping that former President Donald Trump will take the stand in his criminal trial underway in New York.

After all, we all know it's just a witch hunt, one somehow arranged by his political opponent, Dementia Joe, who was able to shake off the mental cobwebs just long enough to arrange for New York state prosecutors — over whom he has no authority — to rig a grand jury to indict Trump.

I mean how hard can it be to arrange to rig a grand jury when you've already had practice rigging an entire national election?

Like my Republican friends here in Connecticut, I will relish seeing Trump raise his right hand, take an oath to tell the truth, and then, finally, set the record straight.

No, of course he didn't leave his wife and newborn son, pack his silk pajamas and Pert Plus shampoo, and head off for a golf tournament in Tahoe with the idea of arranging some tryst with a porn star he might encounter.

I mean, really, we all know what a preposterous story Stormy Daniels told under oath on the witness stand.

Who of us could picture our beloved idol, dressed in silk jammies, swinging open the door to his sprawling hotel suite to wave in a porn star he had invited to dinner.

Everything she said on the witness stand, all that talk about Trump disrobing while she was in the bathroom, were bold lies, and our unimpeached former President (well, yes, two impeachments but no convictions!) will tell the jurors himself it never happened.

Let's just clear this up.

She is a lying extortionist. And really, think about all that sleazy selling of merchandise, trying to make money off her moment in the national spotlight.

Pretty soon she is going to start hawking bibles to make money. How incredibly crass will that be?

She will be toast in the jurors' minds, once Trump tells them directly she made it all up, that he never had sex with her and he wasn't worried at all that voters wouldn't see right through her lies.

There was no reason to pay an extortionist like her money on the eve of an election, and then hide the payments.

And then there's that lying Michael Cohen, the guy who forgot he was our hero's fixer.

We need Trump to take the stand and make it clear that he was a loyal boss, signing checks, even after he had reached the Oval Office, making sure Cohen would get hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.

I know. I know.

Some people might say there is no reason for Trump to take the stand in this circus of a trial, run by a highly conflicted judge whose daughter works for Democrats.

After all, the lame mainstream media is giving it gavel-to-gavel coverage, all-day cable news reporting, because they are in cahoots with Dementia Joe in rigging this crazy prosecution of a political enemy.

We all know Trump is going to win in November and, as he promised, all those political prosecutions that we relish will begin, with our new President delivering on his pledge for revenge.

The witness stand may just be another trap.

Still, what could go wrong if a straight shooter like Trump stands up and tells the truth.

He says he will testify. He said "absolutely" when asked in April. More recently he said "probably" and "if necessary."

I'm sure we all agree it is necessary.

It's time to shut up those local hacks who keep suggesting Connecticut Republicans call out the head of their party as a liar who illegally rigged the 2016 election, lied about losing in 2020, while starting an insurrection, and suggests he won't accept the results of the upcoming election.

Why should Republicans risk their safe seats and speak up, just because a lot of looney Democrats are suggesting our Democracy is not safe with a party that won't respect the outcome of an election?

People who worry about things like the future of our Democracy are deranged, just like the ones in pre-war Germany who stupidly worried about Hitler winning.

They will shut up here when detention camps open here and the promised deportations begin.

Let's all hope Trump takes the stand and tells the truth.

Who can ask for more than that?

This is the opinion of David Collins.

d.collins@theday.com