Trump mocked for claiming son Eric's 'young life has been disrupted' by being asked to testify in trial

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Former president Donald Trump faced considerable wrath online after announcing that his son Eric won’t testify in the civil fraud trial as his “young life has been disrupted enough” by being asked to take the stand.

The 39-year-old Eric, a defendant along with his father, brother Donald Jr, and the Trump Organization, was slated to appear in court on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, as part of the defense presentation.

But, on Tuesday, Trump’s attorney Chris Kise told Judge Arthur Engoron that Eric will no longer take the stand as one of the final witnesses in the case, according to CNN.

The Trump Organization's executive vice president Alan Garten told NBC News that the reason for the reversal was that "everything Eric was going to cover was covered by other witnesses."

Due to the reversal, the trial will be closed on Wednesday and reopen on Thursday, with testimony from accounting expert Professor Eli Bartov of NYU.

Donald Trump and his three adult children were all called as witnesses by the attorney general’s office during its case, which stems from a $250 million civil lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James' office.

The lawsuit accused the defendant of committing repeated fraud by inflating the values of Trump’s properties.

What did Donald Trump say about Eric’s testimony?

Following Kise’s announcement, the former president also stated that Eric would no longer take the stand in the civil fraud trial.

“I told my wonderful son, Eric, not to testify tomorrow at the rigged trial brought about by AG Letitia James’ campaign, which promises that, without knowing anything about me, “I WILL GET TRUMP!’” Trump wrote in a Truth Social Post.

“She ran for A.G., then Governor of New York, and lost! Eric has testified perfectly, unlike their STAR-witnesses – who admitted he lied,” the 45th US president continued, adding, “So there is no reason to waste any more of this Crooked Court’s time on having him say the same thing, over and over again as a witness for the defense.”

“His young life has already been unfairly disturbed and disrupted enough on this,” Trump concluded.

Internet reacts to Donald Trump’s announcement

Trump’s statement has garnered immense social media attention, with users slamming him for claiming that Eric's "young life has been disrupted enough" by the trial.

“I guess he knows Eric can’t keep his story straight,” one user said.

“I told my toddler Eric not to testify at the big bad meany trial tomorrow …” the second user mocked.

The third user trolled Trump, saying, “Aw, isn't that sweet? Donald waits until Eric is 39 to describe him as wonderful. Better late than never...after all, he's going to be 40 next month.”

“Orange Dada’s misconduct brought pain on his children,” the fourth user asserted, while the fifth one wrote, “😢Poor Eric..so young and innocent 😂 I think Old Senior Trump doesn’t want his son to cook him even further by testifying. 🤔.”

“Wait, so he’s interfering with witnesses? And admitting it on social media? Ummm, “Bail revoked; Contempt; 48 hours in jail” should be the response if the judge is being kind and generous…” one more wrote.