MSNBC host shocks panel with single question challenging the narrative celebrating $355 million ruling against Trump

MSNBC host Katy Tur surprised her show guests on Friday by questioning whether former President Donald Trump received a fair shake in New York.

On Friday, a New York judge ordered Trump to pay $355 million in a civil fraud case. The total penalty, when interest is calculated, is approximately $450 million. New York Attorney General Letitia James — a Democrat who campaigned on targeting Trump — celebrated the judge's unprecedented and highly controversial penalty.

To frame her question, Tur cited an Associated Press analysis that exposed the unprecedented nature of the case and how New York's treatment of Trump is incongruent with past cases. She explained:

They went back over 70 years and looked at all the cases that have been tried under this rule — [New York Civil Practice Law] 6312, which is used here — which doesn't have to show harm done. That's not the burden. You don't have to show that anybody was hurt by your practices. There's nobody you defrauded specifically.

They went back and they looked at cases over 70 years — I believe it's about 150 cases — and found there was no case where there was a ban on doing business where there wasn't harm shown. So even though the threshold is "harm shown," in the past, it has only been used to ban someone doing business when it's been shown that somebody was hurt — say you're selling cosmetics that are poisoning you. There's somebody that was hurt there; the cosmetics company gets banned.

"Is this fair to go after Donald Trump like this in this environment, is my question," Tur said.

The camera then panned to MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin and New York Times reporter Susanne Craig, both of whom appeared flabbergasted that Tur dared to ask that question.

Neither Rubin nor Craig answered Tur's question. Instead, Rubin directed Tur to ask former New York Assistant Attorney General Tristan Snell.

Snell, who prosecuted Trump over Trump University, argued the evidence in the fraud cause "went way over" the legal threshold, which is why the judge issued high penalties.

Later, Craig defended big banks — which Trump allegedly defrauded — as the "victims." But Tur immediately made an inconvenient observation.

"Listen, I'm not arguing in anyone's defense; they have said they didn't feel like they lost," Tur pointed out of the banks with which Trump did business.

New York real estate developers are concerned about the implications of the ruling because it's an open secret that every business does what Trump did: get the highest possible value for your properties while, at the same time, trying to minimize tax liabilities.

It's why businessman Kevin O'Leary described the outcome as "un-American." O'Leary said if the court system were fair, they would punish "every real estate developer on Earth."

Fortunately for New York real estate developers not named Trump, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has assured them that there is "nothing to worry about."

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