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As President Trump continues to attend the ongoing Manhattan criminal trial that is unfolding in the heart of New York City, he has taken a direct approach to challenging presiding Judge Juan Merchan over a gag order that the president has argued is unconstitutional.
On Tuesday, court proceedings kicked off with a gag order hearing after District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed a motion last week to hold the 45th president in contempt of court for allegedly violating a gag order on three different occasions.
Trump could be fined $1,000 for each alleged violation. Additionally, Bragg asked Judge Merchan to threaten Trump with up to 30 days of incarceration for future violations of the gag order, which blocks the president from speaking publicly about prosecutors, witnesses, court staff, and their families.
In the courtroom, Judge Merchan told Trump attorney Todd Blanche that he was “losing all credibility with this court” on the issue of the gag order, per Fox News. The judge sparred with the defense over social media posts that the president made on Truth Social, and whether reposting third-party news articles on his account violated the gag order.
Regardless, Trump has refused to back down against Merchan, firing off a feisty statement on Truth Social immediately after those arguments in Manhattan. He wrote, “HIGHLY CONFLICTED, TO PUT IT MILDLY, JUDGE JUAN MERCHAN, HAS TAKEN AWAY MY CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH. EVERYBODY IS ALLOWED TO TALK AND LIE ABOUT ME, BUT I AM NOT ALLOWED TO DEFEND MYSELF.”
He added, “THIS IS A KANGAROO COURT, AND THE JUDGE SHOULD RECUSE HIMSELF!”
On Monday, Trump called the criminal trial a “Biden Trial,” and stated that all of his cases, were in fact, linked to Biden. “It’s all about Election Interference. Sad!” he concluded.
Last week, the president was also resoundingly clear about his thoughts on the real underlying motivations of the “hush money” criminal case. He described it as a “Communist Show Trial” while speaking to patriots in Pennsylvania.