Former National Security Adviser John Bolton said Thursday on CNN’s “The Source” that former President Donald Trump’s mug shot was staged so he looked like a “thug.”
Anchor Kaitlan Collins said, “I just wonder, as someone who worked inside the West Wing when Donald Trump was president, what is it like for you to see his mug shot tonight?”
Bolton said, “I thought it was carefully staged. They must have thought about what look they wanted. He could have smiled. He could have looked benign. Instead, he looks like a thug. I think it’s intended to be a sign of intimidation against the prosecutors and judges. That’s what they picked, and we’ll see that picture everywhere.”
Collins said, “So, you think they actually spent time deciding, you know, should he smile in this? Should he have this scowl that he appears to have gone with?”
Bolton said, “Almost as much time as they spent combing his hair.”
Collins said, “He posted the mug shot, you know, shortly after on his own social media account, along with the phrase, never surrender. I mean, a bit ironic, given he had just surrendered at the Fulton County Jail behind me. But how do you expect him to try to use this to his political advantage, as he’s running for president?”
Bolton said, “Well, I think in the same way he’s used the other three indictments. I think the evidence is that the indictments have proven the law of diminishing margin of utility. If anything, they’re not undercutting his support. They’re building it up.”
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