Likening himself to others who have fought and been silenced for the right of free speech, President Trump says it would be a “great honor” to go to jail for violating his ridiculous gag order.
On Saturday, the former leader of the free world said he welcomed the prospect of going to jail for violating a gag order in his upcoming New York hush money trial.
“I will gladly become a Modern Day Nelson Mandela — It will be my GREAT HONOR,” Trump wrote in a lengthy Truth Social post attacking New York State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over Trump’s case.
It was not the first time Trump has likened himself to a martyr as he faces a flurry of criminal charges.
In an October attack on his various politically motivated lawsuits, the presumptive Republican nominee also compared himself to Mandela, the former president of South Africa who spent 27 years in prison for his anti-apartheid activism.
And last week, Trump took to Truth Social to share a message that likened his legal troubles to the persecution of Jesus Christ.
Trump’s so-called “hush money” trial will begin with jury selection in NY on April 15.
Trump has accused the presiding judge in the trial, Justice Juan Merchan, of being compromised because of his daughter’s role at a progressive consulting firm that has worked for Democrats.
Trump’s social media post on Saturday was the latest of several that he has posted about the judge’s daughter since Merchan first imposed an initial gag order at the end of March. That order prohibited Trump from making public statements about the case’s witnesses, jurors, and lawyers. He was also banned from publicly speaking about court staff, employees in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, and their family members. That first gag order came in response to Trump’s repeated calls for the judge to recuse himself.
One day after the first gag order was imposed on March 26, Trump went after Merchan’s daughter on social media.
Soon after that, Merchan granted prosecutors a request to expand the scope of the order to prohibit direct attacks on Merchan’s family members and the family of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Under the expanded order, Trump can still criticize Merchan and Bragg individually. But he is not allowed to target their families publicly.
The judge’s daughter, Loren Merchan, has a “direct financial interest” in the case because of her work at the consulting firm Authentic Campaigns for Trump foes, including Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the lead prosecutor in the former president’s first impeachment trial, Trump’s lawyers argued.
Merchan previously denied similar Trump allegations about his daughter’s job in August 2023, saying there was no evidence to “suggest that the outcome of the case could have any effect on the judge’s relative, the relative’s business, or any of their interests.”