Michael Cohen said Donald Trump’s abrupt departure from Wednesday’s court proceedings in New York proves his temperament is not suited for the presidency.
Trump stormed out of court after Cohen, his former personal attorney and fixer, testified that the ex-president had never asked him to inflate the numbers on his financial statements. Cohen was testifying in the $250 million New York civil fraud trial concerning Trump’s business dealings.
After Cohen’s remark, Trump’s attorney asked the judge for a directed verdict to dismiss the trial, which the judge denied. Trump then said “I’m leaving” and walked out, CNN reported.
Trump’s Secret Service agents were reportedly caught by surprise and had to chase after him.
“He slams his hands on the table. He jumps up. Secret Service jumps up after him. He makes a whole march to go out —so this is not clearly presidential,” Cohen told MSNBC’s Al Sharpton on Sunday.
“This is only a New York attorney general civil matter,” he continued. “Could you imagine if, hypothetically, right now he had to deal with a foreign nation? With all that’s going on in the country right now, in the world, could you imagine? This is the guy who’s going to represent us.”
Shortly before his outburst, Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, was hit with a $10,000 fine for violating a gag order that prohibits him from attacking court staff in public.
Cohen later testified that Trump didn’t directly ask him to inflate the numbers, but it was implied, according to CNN.
Watch Cohen’s commentary below on MSNBC.