(New York Post) Donald Trump was reportedly “irked” that the judge at his arraignment Thursday referred to him as “Mr. Trump” rather than “Mr. President” – and left the hearing in DC in a “sour and dejected mood.”
Trump, who enjoys the presidential honorific, “was, quote, ‘pissed off,’ according to someone who spoke to him,” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins said after the former commander-in-chief pleaded not guilty to a four-count indictment Thursday.
“I’m learning tonight that Trump left here in a sour and dejected mood,” she added.
“I am told that the former president, one thing that irked him particularly, was during that hearing today that lasted about 27 minutes, was when the magistrate judge referred to him as simply ‘Mr. Trump,’” Collins continued.
“That may not sound odd to anyone else, but he is still referred to by his former title ‘President Trump’ when he’s at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, as he is tonight, or at Mar-a-Lago,” the anchor of “The Source” told viewers.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump stands between his attorneys Todd Blanche and John Lauro as he takes an oath before Magistrate Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya during his plea hearing Thursday.Reuters
Trump sits next to his attorney Todd Blanche as he faces charges before Magistrate Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya.REUTERS
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.AP
Trump was charged with four crimes in the indictment.
The judge’s everyman greeting was also not lost on people following the arraignment yesterday — as it quickly sparked speculation on social media about whether Trump would be offended by it.
“Wow. The first words of the Judge overseeing today’s arraignment are “Good afternoon, Mr. Trump,” Democratic commentator Victor Shi tweeted.
“No mention of Donald Trump being former president. No special treatment. Treating him as just another man in a Courtroom. This is the rule of law at its best,” he added.
ABC News producer John Santucci also noted how the judge addressed Trump.
“If there is one thing I know Trump loves that he’s called Mr. President now,” he wrote.
Others, meanwhile, believed Trump would have every right to feel slighted.
“Every other president would have been addressed as ‘President’ not ‘Mr.’… Let’s be real,” the right-wing Daily Caller chief national correspondent Henry Rodgers tweeted.
In the courtroom, Trump, 77, shook his head slightly as US Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadyaha read out the docket number and said: “United States v. Donald J. Trump.”
Trump, 77, surrendered to law enforcement and pleaded not guilty to a four-count indictment for disrupting the peaceful transfer of power with his “stolen” election claims.
Protesters and journalists began gathering outside the E. Barrett Prettyman Court House in Washington on Wednesday ahead of the historic arraignment.
