Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday that he wouldn’t mind going to jail for violating his gag order in his New York hush money trial.
“I will gladly become a Modern Day Nelson Mandela — It will be my GREAT HONOR,” the former president wrote in his post that also attacked New York State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan, who presides over Trump’s case.
Trump has accused Merchan of being partial because Merchan’s daughter worked as an executive at a progressive political consulting firm that has worked for Democrats. Since Merchan first imposed an initial gag order at the end of March, Trump has been ranting on social media about the judge’s daughter.
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That gag order in March prohibited Trump from speaking publicly about the case’s witnesses, lawyers and jurors. He was also banned from making public statements about court staff, workers in the office of the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and their family members.
A day after the gag order, Trump started lashing out at Merchan and his daughter on social media. On Monday, the judge expanded the gag order, which states that even though Trump can criticize Merchan and Bragg individually, he is banned from attacking their families publicly.
Trump’s latest rant on Saturday comes days before his hush money trial is expected to begin on April 15. The presumed 2024 GOP presidential nominee is facing criminal charges in New York City over allegations that he falsified business documents to hide “hush money” payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign to silence her about an alleged affair they had in 2006.
This is not the first time Trump has compared himself to Mandela, the former South African president who spent 27 years in prison for his anti-apartheid activism.
In October, Trump also compared himself to Mandela after saying he was a victim of political persecution. He told supporters at a Derry, New Hampshire, rally, “I don’t mind being Nelson Mandela, because I’m doing it for a reason.”
Last week, the former president also likened his legal woes to the persecution of Jesus Christ.
Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney, explained whether Trump could get a harsher gag order following his recent social media posts. “If it is simply sort of political speech that isn’t targeting anybody in particular, I think the judge is going to give him a lot of leeway to say this,” McQuade said on Saturday to MSNBC.
“What the gag order specifically tries to preclude is doing anything that might intimidate witnesses, threaten witnesses or call into question the motives of the parties here. I think this kind of thing is probably going to be allowed to pass,” she added.
