Eric Trump's recent comment comparing his family's assets to the Mona Lisa amid their ongoing civil fraud trial has spawned a wave of mockery across social media.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has sued former President Donald Trump and his family, including sons Donald Jr. and Eric, for $250 million, accusing them of frequently inflating Trump's own net worth and the value of his assets by billions of dollars from 2011 to 2021 to secure better deals and loans. Trump and his family have dismissed the accusations and maintained their innocence, accusing prosecutors of being politically motivated and attempting to harm Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.
New York Judge Arthur Engoron ruled last month that Trump, his adult sons, their businesses, and executives committed fraud, for which they will they will be held civilly liable to an extent to be determined throughout the rest of the trial. The court will also rule on six other accusations, including falsifying business records, insurance fraud, and conspiracy claims. Engoron himself will rule on the charges, as Trump's legal team did not opt for a jury trial. The result could see Trump and his family lose some of their famous properties and be barred from doing business in New York.
During a Saturday evening appearance on Fox News, which was shared by the news clip aggregating account Acyn on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, Eric Trump claimed that the Trump family properties at play in the civil fraud trial are "worth a fortune" and called them "Mona Lisas of the real estate world."
This comment drew a wave of mocking responses, like the one from Democratic political strategist Adam Parkhomenko, in which he wrote, "I honestly didn't think Eric Trump could get any dumber."
"Makes his brother look like Tolstoy," writer Molly Jong-Fast wrote in her own post, comparing Eric Trump to his older brother, Donald Trump Jr.
"Tiny and over hyped?" X user Bill DeMayo asked, deflating the younger Trump's comparison by dismissing the reputation of the Mona Lisa painting.
"When delusion is the dominant gene," another user, Chidi Nwatu, wrote.
"Then sell a DaVinci and pay your own damn legal bills, grifters," another X user, going by Leslieoo7, wrote.
Newsweek reached out to representatives of the Trump family via email for comment.
Eric Trump has, in the past, been intensely critical of the trial and the case it is based on, previously claiming that he and his family "haven't done a damn thing wrong," despite Engoron's ruling. This statement, and his general tone regarding the case, recently drew criticism from criminal defense attorney Randy Zelin during an appearance on Newsmax, who accused him of "taking a dump over the legal system."
"Do it in the courtroom," Zelin said. "If you're so sure that you're going to win, if you haven't done a damn thing wrong, then do it in the courtroom. This abject lack of respect that people have for our system of justice, for our judges, for our prosecutors, for our quasi-prosecutors. Shut your mouth, keep it out of the media, show a little bit of respect, particularly if you're a last name you want to be attached to, being the most powerful person in the world."
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Thomas Kika is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in upstate New York. His focus is reporting on crime and national ... Read more
