Trump’s ‘friend’ dig at Pence was not childish talk but a coded Mafia-style threat, claims Michael Cohen

Trump’s former lawyer ‘decodes’ then-president’s speeches before 6 January riots

Donald Trump’s former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen says the former president’s efforts to pressure Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election results included a “Mafia-style” threat.

Mr Cohen, in a video posted on the YouTube channel Meidas Touch, analysed the former president’s speeches before 6 January last year and said: “If anyone knows how Donald Trump speaks in code, it’s me.”

Mr Trump in his speeches had said that then-vice president Mike Pence would not be his “friend” anymore if Mr Pence didn’t help him overthrow the election results.

Mr Cohen said: “We have seen clips of Trump speaking at rallies including the one in Georgia leading up to Jan 6 saying that he is not going to like Mike Pence if he doesn’t reject the election.”

He went on to say that observers said that he [Trump] was behaving like a five-year old but that “is not a correct way of looking at this”.

He cited the example of John Gotti, the boss of the Gambino crime family. Mr Cohen said that “when you review the Mafia wire tapes, for example, John Gotti, he uses the identical languages”.

Quoting Gotti’s speech when he said things like “I don’t love him anymore.. I hope he does the right thing”, Mr Cohen drew parallels between his language and Mr Trump’s.

He said that Mr Trump’s speeches leading up to 6 January last year sound like “almost the same person”.

“The message that Donald Trump is conveying to Pence is that you are my enemy, you are either my friend or my enemy,” Mr Cohen said.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump tore into the 6 January committee over its third public hearing, writing on Truth Social that he did not order Mr Pence to overturn the 2020 election.

Mr Trump has made two speeches this weekend in which he again amplified his fake election fraud conspiracies.  He called the Democrats “political thugs” and called the investigation into the Capitol riot a “witch hunt”.

On social media, Mr Cohen’s analysis received mixed reviews. One user wrote: “Cohen grates on my nerves, but he is an excellent interpreter of Mafia lingo. Worth a listen.”

Another said: “This is incredibly chilling.”

“Michael Cohen compares tRump [sic] to John Gotti (The original “Teflon Don”) when he says if Pence doesn’t do the right thing, then he won’t be his friend anymore. Mob language!” another said.