Former president Donald Trump’s hush money trial is nearing its end, with closing arguments expected shortly. But for Stormy Daniels, the aptly named woman caught in the whirlwind, there’s no end to her ordeal.
Indeed, Trump may be the one on trial, but it’s Stormy who’s been judged every day for the past five years. And unlike Trump’s New York jury of his peers, Stormy’s being judged by those with little mercy, little care for evidence, and scant regard for Justice. And with Trump making another run for The White House, she knows the haters and the abuse are only likely to get worse.
Speaking from her home in Texas, Stormy says: “Back in 2018, there was stuff like ‘liar,' ‘slut,' ‘gold digger.' This time around, it’s different. It is direct threats. It is ‘I’m going to come to your house to slit your throat.'"
READ MORE: Donald Trump's confidence takes hit as he sends 'warning signal' to crowd booing him
The intensified abuse and violent threats got worse after the decision to charge Trump over alleged hush money payments made to her. People have become so angry at her role in Trump’s potential downfall, that they have convinced themselves their beliefs and actions are valid.
Gangsters ‘call for ceasefire’ after deadly Christmas Eve pub shooting
So much so, most are not even hiding their identities. “They’re not even using bot accounts, they’re using their real accounts,” she says. “I compare them to suicide bombers. They legitimately think that what they’re doing is right. Those people who see me as a villain. “It just makes me scratch my head and really question how they would want their daughters treated, or their sisters, or their mother.”
Her comments are featured in a new TV documentary, Stormy, to be shown for the first time on Tuesday night in the UK on Channel 5. It’s timed as the trial reaches its final stages.
During a car ride, Stormy reads out some of the vile messages she has received including: “Even if you’d have been raped, you should have kept your mouth quiet for the greater good” and “You’re nothing but a fat hillbilly, Trump would never touch you, stop lying, before I’m forced to shut you up myself”
She adds that that is a ‘direct threat.' Earlier this month, Stormy, 45, testified in the criminal fraud trial of former President Trump, where she made a number of bombshell claims about her alleged affair with him.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has accused Trump of falsifying business records to disguise an alleged $130,000 (£104,000) hush-money payment made to Daniels in a bid to hide damaging information just before the US election in 2016. Stormy, who married her fourth husband, Barret Blade, in December 2022, claimed that Trump would call her at least once a week during their affair and beg her to see him. She said he would “profess his love and beg to see me again."
Stormy - whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford - is then seen sitting at her kitchen table surrounded by piles of legal documents and praises her attorney, Clark Brewster. “There is a never ending avalanche of court documents, lawsuits and court transcripts”, she says. “I wanted to die. If I had all of these legal bills piled up. I would never have been able to pay them. And Clark is the only one who never charged me and kept fighting for me. I can’t even imagine where I would be.”
She talks philosophically about what she has learnt since the story first broke. “The way this is different from 2018 is that I have more knowledge, “ she says. “The shock of it’s not the same. I’m desensitised to some of it. But they’ve also become more violent with me. “I’m more prepared with my legal knowledge but I’m also tired. Like my soul is so tired.”
She also described why she signed the NDA, claiming she was afraid for her family if she didn’t. For Stormy, she will just be pleased when this is finally over. Her life has been transformed but she’s determined not to give up. She says: “I won’t give up as I’m telling the truth. “And I kind of don’t know if that matters anymore.”
Stormy premieres Tuesday, May 28, Channel 5, 10pm and is also available to stream on My5.
Four human skulls wrapped in tin foil found in package going from Mexico to US