CNN’s Jake Tapper claimed that Donald Trump has previously utilized the expression on his face in mug shots to appear intimidating, but New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman claimed there was more to it.
“It isn’t just that he wants to look menacing, which is certainly true, and he has made that kind of face in photos for years and years and years,” she said. “He doesn’t want to look weak, and that’s what that’s about.”
Trump was detained in Georgia on Wednesday on suspicion of attempting to rig the state’s 2020 election. His mug image has subsequently been shared on social media after he was arrested and then released on bail.
According to Haberman, Trump’s aim to avoid coming off as weak is evident not only in the way he looks in the mug shot but also in how he uses it.
“Circulating the mug shot, fundraising off of it, owning it, using it for press ― that’s all part of a playbook that we have seen him use over and over again,” she said. “But that does not mean he’s enjoying any of this. This is a serious thing. He is facing serious jail time.”
