Donald Trump’s defense team began its highly anticipated cross-examination of Michael Cohen on Tuesday with questions about the witness’s constant criticisms of the former president and his attorneys.
“You went on TikTok and called me a crying little s***, didn’t you?” attorney Todd Blanche asked as his first question, according to CNN reports from the courtroom where Trump’s hush money trial was taking place.
“Sounds like something I would say,” Cohen replied.
Prosecutors working on behalf of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg raised objections to the question, resulting in Judge Juan Merchan striking it from the record.
Blanche, however, continued to grill Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, on comments he has made during his livestreams on the popular Chinese-owned app.
Cohen turned against his former boss in recent years after he was prosecuted in part for the same hush money incident for which Trump is now on trial. In the lead-up to the trial, and even after it started, Cohen spoke about his grievances with Trump in media appearances, on X, and to thousands of listeners on TikTok.
Cohen drew criticism for ranting about Trump while being a known witness in the case, and Merchan eventually asked prosecutors last week to encourage Cohen to stop making extrajudicial comments until his testimony concluded.
Blanche asked Cohen about an April 23 appearance he made on TikTok and if he recalled calling Trump a “dictator d********” during it.
“Sounds like something I would say,” Cohen replied.
