“It’s like Trump is not allowed to defend himself whatsoever but they can parade all these people through the courtroom to trash him.”
It’s not “LIKE” that. It’s EXACTLY that, and they are blatant about saying so. He’s been told he can’t defend himself, can’t say he’s innocent, etc.
In TX, the same thing happened to Alex Jones. Whether you like him or not, in America defendants have a right to ... DEFEND ... themselves. That’s why they’re called defendants.
They have First Amendment rights. Until they don’t.&
“He’s been told he can’t defend himself, can’t say he’s innocent, etc.”
Where do you get that? He has an absolute right to take the stand and defend himself and say he’s innocent. (The gag order doesn’t apply to in-court testimony). Whether or not he testifies, his attorneys can defend him in other ways.
Most notably, because the prosecution has the burden of proof, defense attorneys can sometimes win without putting in any evidence, just by cross-examining the prosecution witnesses — which Trump’s attorneys have done. They can also put in evidence instead of or in addition to Trump’s testimony.