Former President and 2024 GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump unloaded on the “unconstitutional” gag order that’s preventing him from commenting on certain aspects of his NYC criminal trial.
Trump spoke to reporters outside the courtroom.
“We have a gag order, which to me is totally unconstitutional. I’m not allowed to talk, but people are allowed to talk about me. So they can talk about me,” Trump said outside the courtroom. “They can say whatever they want, they can lie, but I’m not allowed to say anything. I just have to sit back and look at why a conflicted judge has ordered me to have gag order,” he said.
“I don’t think anybody’s ever seen anything like this. I’d love to talk to you people. I’d love to say everything that’s on my mind, but I’m restricted because I have a gag order,” he continued.
From Fox News:
Trump was back in court on Tuesday, when presiding Judge Juan Merchan held a hearing on the prosecution’s request that Trump be held in contempt for violating a gag order. Merchan imposed the gag order on Trump before the trial began, ordering Trump to abstain from making comments — or directing others to make comments — regarding witnesses’ potential participation or the prosecution team. The gag order does allow Trump to publicly speak about District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Prosecutors presented 10 instances of Trump allegedly violating the gag order in social media posts during the hearing. The DA’s office argues he should pay a $1,000 fine each for a handful of the instances.
Trump’s legal team pushed back that the posts in question were examples of the 45th president responding to attacks.
Merchan has not issued a decision yet on whether Trump is found in contempt. He did warn the Trump defense team that they were “losing all credibility” during the hearing.
Watch the clip above.