Reading the 'tea leaves': TV networks vamp for time during the wait for the Donald Trump verdict
The phrase “tea leaves” was heard incessantly on television news networks as they waited out a Manhattan jury's deliberations in former President Donald Trump's hush money trial
NEW YORK — The New York accents of court reporters reading testimony. A juror's facial expression. And tea leaves — plenty of tea leaves.
Jury deliberation meant tense, ultimately boring hours of waiting for lawyers, journalists and others at the Manhattan courtroom where former President Donald Trump's hush money trial is being held.
It's the same for television networks covering the case — except they have hours of time to fill for viewers. Rather than switch to something else, they have largely stuck close to the courthouse.
That means no sign, fact or opinion is too small to ignore.
Despite New York state rules that prohibit cameras in the courtroom, television news networks have focused on the case almost exclusively while court is in session. Since the case began in mid-April, Fox News Channel’s daytime viewers are up 15% over last year at the same time, MSNBC is up 17% and CNN up 19%, according to the Nielsen company. That explains any reluctance to turn away.
“They could come out with a verdict between now and however long it takes them,” Newsmax reporter Christina Thompson said Thursday — the safest of hundreds of televised predictions since the jury began considering evidence.
The phrase “tea leaves” — a cliched reference to predicting an event's outcome based on signs that may or may not mean anything — has been heard more times than on a Bigelow's factory floor.
“Trying to understand what the jury is thinking is the pseudo-science of all pseudo-sciences,” said CNN analyst Elie Honig. “However, you can draw inferences.”
With that, he
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