For a second time, Judge Juan Merchan threatened to throw presidential candidate Donald Trump in jail for his public comments. Merchan’s assault on free speech came in response to a prosecutor’s motion for sanctions against Trump for an alleged violation of a gag order during his New York trial on charges cooked up by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat.
“Going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction,” Merchan said May 6, after fining Trump $1,000 for saying, “The jury was picked so fast — 95% Democrats,” April 22. “The area’s mostly Democrat. It’s a very unfair situation, that I can tell you.”
Merchan’s absurd reason for the ruling is his claim that Trump’s comments endangered “the safety of the jurors and of their loved ones.”
Under the judge’s gag order Trump is barred from commenting about potential witnesses, like his former lawyer, Michael Cohen. Merchan rejected the prosecution’s demand for more sanctions after Trump asked April 22, “And when are they going to look at all the lies that Cohen did in the last trial?”
Cohen comments nightly about Trump on his TikTok channel, using the platform to solicit donations from viewers for his vitriol toward the presidential candidate. “Trump 2024?” Cohen said April 23, “More like Trump 20-24 years.”
When Trump comes out of court each day, Cohen said, he “goes right into that little cage, which is where he belongs, in a f–king cage like an animal.” Trump is barred from responding.
The judge’s attempts to silence the presidential candidate and his threats to jail him are a blow to constitutional protections working people need.