CNN’s Dana Bash sought to set the record straight on Donald Trump’s allegation that the civil fraud case against him is a political move meant to keep him off the campaign trail.

Bash played video of Trump’s complaint:

This is politics. Now, it has been very successful for them because they took me off the campaign trail. Because I’ve been sitting in a courthouse all day long instead of being in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, or a lot of other places I could be at.

“Fact check,” Bash said. “He doesn’t have to be there! There is no requirement. He’s not compelled legally to be there. His campaign aides make it pretty clear that they think that this is the best campaign stop for him, the best use of his time as a candidate in the short-term, as he could possibly have. Despite how painful it might be when it comes to the core of who he is, a businessman.”

Panelist Salea Mosin agreed.

“He’s on the campaign trail. He is talking to his electorate, his base, he’s talking to his donors, his supporters when he’s out there saying, ‘Look what they are doing to me.’ He is sewing more seeds of distrust…He’s out there saying, ‘Vote for me again. Bet on me. I’m being mistreated by everyone else and I’m your guy.’ And he’s ahead in the polls. It’s working for him. So of course, he’s going to stick with that line: ‘You’re not letting me on the campaign trail, so I’m going to do it here in the courtroom.'”

“We are seeing one thing here,” Jeff Zeleny said. “This is deeply affecting him. This was not the president who was the most engaged president. Often, he didn’t read intelligence briefings, he wasn’t exactly steeped in policy. He is steeped in this. This is his life, this is his core. And you can tell how much it’s getting to him.

“So, I don’t know if that will have an effect on just his psyche here. But separately, outside the courtroom, he’s not under oath. When he’s in that witness stand, he will be under oath. So this is something we’ve also not seen from him. It looks good politically, it is good politically, but it’s perilous in the long-term here. But he’s on a campaign trail, you’re totally right.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

The post ‘He Doesn’t Have To Be There!’ Dana Bash Scoffs At Trump Complaining He Shouldn’t Be Stuck In Court first appeared on Mediaite.

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