Donald Trump has been walking a very thin line with his social media account, regularly daring Judge Juan Merchan to find him in violation of the gag order that was put on Trump in the hush money case.
Trump now appears to be ready to go to jail for defending himself against Merchan, even talking about the “honor” of going to jail like a “modern-day Nelson Mandela.”
Talking Points…
- Gag order placed on Trump
- Trump comments about possible violations of gag order
- Analysis
As the date of the trial started to approach, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg filed a motion to have a gag order placed against Donald Trump, citing his attacks against court members and witnesses on social media in previous cases. Judge Merchan, as we expected, approved the motion, citing a history of “threatening, inflammatory, denigrating” statements by Donald Trump in previous cases.
The order would prevent Trump from talking about Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, two key witnesses for the prosecution. At that time, both Bragg and Merchan would still be fair game for Trump. In issuing the order, Merchan stated:
“The uncontested record reflecting the Defendant’s prior extra-judicial statements establishes a sufficient risk to the administration of justice … and there exists no less restrictive means to prevent such risk.”
Just as we expected would happen, Donald Trump started to walk a fine line with his attacks against the court and the case, which led to Bragg filing a motion to expand the court order. It was a motion that Merchan quickly granted, as Trump has been attacking the judge and his daughter, Loren, who works for a digital advertising agency that services Democrats and the DNC. Merchan stated:
“This pattern of attacking family members of presiding jurists and attorneys assigned to his cases serves no legitimate purpose.
“It merely injects fear in those assigned or called to participate in the proceedings that not only they, but their family members as well, are ‘fair game,’ for Defendant’s vitriol.”
That new order did not stop Trump from attacking the court or members of the court’s family. Some might say it was almost as if Trump wanted to be put in jail to draw more sympathy to his case. With the new order in place, Donald Trump spent his Saturday attacking Merchan on Truth Social, likely violating that gag order that had just been updated. Trump, in part, posted:
“If this Partisan Hack wants to put me in the ‘clink’ for speaking the open and obvious TRUTH, I will gladly become a Modern Day Nelson Mandela - It will be my GREAT HONOR.
“We have to Save our Country from these Political Operatives masquerading as Prosecutors and Judges, and I am willing to sacrifice my Freedom for that worthy cause.”
Trump went on to say that Merchan “fought like hell” to get assigned to this case. He further stated that he would save the country from political operatives masquerading as “prosecutors and judges.” Trump played the victim part of this perfectly for his supporters, saying he would be willing to “sacrifice my freedom for that worthy cause.”
As I have stated before, Donald Trump has thrived during these prosecutions. He has his supporters convinced that the “system” is actually going after the citizens of this country, and Trump is the vehicle they are using to do that. His supporters have rallied behind that narrative and opened their checkbooks to donate to his campaign.
We all saw how Trump’s polling and fundraising improved after each indictment, so imagine what would happen if there were pictures on the news and in social media of Trump being put in cuffs and an orange prison jumper. Does Trump really want to go to jail? Probably not, but he seems ready to do that if needed to boost his campaign.
