“This is about election interference; that’s all it’s about” – former President Donald Trump.
Former President Donald Trump, speaking outside the courtroom after the first day of jury selection in the severely flawed case brought against him by Democratic DA Alvin Bragg in New York, slammed the proceedings as a “scam trial,” and said it “looks like” the judge won’t let him go to his son Barron’s high school graduation, to a hearing on presidential immunity before the U.S. Supreme Court or to campaign.
Instead, the judge has threatened to have Trump arrested if he doesn’t show up for court every day, while his opponent, President Joe Biden – to whom the judge donated a small amount – is free to campaign all he wants. NBC News reported the trial could last eight week. [Read our story here on 14 facts on the case.]
“We had some amazing things happen today as you know. My son is graduating from high school, and it looks like the judge won’t let me go to the graduation of my son who has worked very, very hard, and he’s a great student, and I’m very proud of the fact that he did so well and was looking forward for years to have graduation with his mother and father there,” Trump said.
The court hearing is not televised, but media in the courtroom indicated that many jurors were excused when they admitted they could not be fair. Trump is also under a gag order slapped on him by the Judge, Juan Merchant, whose daughter runs a firm that has taken millions of dollars from the Biden and Kamala Harris campaigns.
NEW: Donald Trump confirms that New York Judge Juan Merchan said he won't be able to attend his son Barron Trump's graduation.
Trump also said the judge won't let him attend a hearing before the Supreme Court.
"It's a political witch hunt… we are not going to be given a… pic.twitter.com/geleqKWSOk
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 15, 2024
“It looks like the judge isn’t going to allow me to escape this scam,” Trump said after the hearing concluded for the day. “It’s a scam trial. If you read all of the legal pundits, all of the legal scholars today, there’s not one that I see that said this is a case that should be brought or tried. It’s a scam. It’s a political witchhunt, it continues and it continues forever. And we’re not going to be given a fair trial. It’s a very very sad thing.”
In addition, Trump said, “As you know next Thursday, we’re before the United Supreme Court in a very big hearing on immunity. This is something we’ve been waiting for for a long time and the judge, of course, is not going to allow us, he’s a very conflicted judge, and he’s not going to allow us to go to that. He won’t allow me to leave here for half a day and go to DC before the United States Supreme Court because he thinks he’s superior I guess to the Supreme Court.”
Added Trump: “We have a real problem with this judge. We have a problem with a lot of things having to do with this trial including the DA because you go right outside and people are being mugged and killed all day long, and he’s sitting here with 10 or 12 prosecutors over nothing, over nothing, over what people say shouldn’t be a trial.”
“So I just want to thank you very much. Now I can’t go to my son’s graduation, I can’t go to the United States Supreme Court. That I’m not in Georgia or Florida or North Carolina campaigning like I should be. It’s perfect for the radical left Democrats, that’s exactly what they want. This is about election interference; that’s all it’s about.”
Forbes quoted Merchan as telling Trump of the high school graduation that it “really depends on if we are on time and where we are in the trial.” He did not make a final determination on that, but he did on the SCOTUS request.
