'They've Taken Away My Right to Speak,' Trump Says While Ranting to Reporters
The former president got very mad about his inability attack witnesses and jurors before reportedly dozing off in court again
Donald Trump claimed on Friday that he has been stripped of his constitutional right to speak to the press … while ranting to a giant gaggle of reporters.
The former president took time before entering court in his criminal hush money trial to once again complain about a gag order barring him from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, court staff, and jurors involved in the case.
“The gag order has to come off. People are allowed to speak about me and I have a gag order,” Trump said. “They are taking away my constitutional rights to speak, and that includes speaking to you. I have a lot to say to you, and I am not allowed to say it — and I’m the only one. Everyone else can say whatever they want about me. They can say anything they want, they can continue to make up lies […] But I’m not allowed to speak. I want to speak to the press and everybody else about it. So why am I gagged?”
The big news here is that we have finally found a line that Donald Trump will not cross. He continued to defame Carroll after massive judgements for defaming her, but that was just money after all. Being in contempt of this court might send him to Rikers, though, and no amount of money will fix that.
I've always said he wants to be thrown in jail, because he thinks it will play into his followers' persecution complex and lead to lots more fundraising. But Rikers is notorious, I bet he would do anything to avoid going there.
Speaking of: what's the deadline of the collection on that one?
I used to think he was intentionally coming up with the wildest shit ever because deep down it's his way of being a loudmouth jerk to convince people not to vote for him, while still showing he's a strongman/ 'speak his mind' because otherwise he'll look like a pussy for backing down. But now I just think he's just a gigantic asshole.
Make no mistake about it he’s a loudmouth jerk, gigantic asshole AND the world’s biggest pussy. The trifecta of douchebaggery.
Well said, Jim, Jim and Jim.
Hey man, don’t leave Jim out :(
He probably won't go to jail no matter what he does. House arrest is most likely.
With our luck, he'll be sentenced to live in public housing in DC for 4 more years
I mean Trump in gen pop in a prison is a gang war waiting to happen.
He wouldn't be in the general population at Rikers. They put his CFO in an isolation ward originally built for contagious prisoners. Still, all the facilities there are decrepit, and NYC is actively looking close it down and replace it.
This scares the shit outta me. It's literally straight out of the Hitler playbook. As much as I want to see him get his comeuppance, any persecution he faces is also going to cement him as a martyr and embolden his supporters. Sending him to jail is a lose-lose.
This is also why, IMO, judges bend over backwards to be lenient to him. Any petty criminal who continually circumvented a judge's directions would have been held in contempt long ago.
Then what? We keep treating him with kid gloves and getting away with it? It needs to happen and the sooner the better so we can move past it. The more we try to place nice and given him passes the worse it’ll get. Its not just gonna go away on its own.
Oh, I don't disagree, but that doesn't mean it's not still a potential lose-lose.
Best case scenario in my books is he becomes financially insolvent, he can no longer find any backers to finance his campaign, and he falls into obscurity. Basically the Alex Jones path.
Second best situation is he's convicted of something serious and put away for a long ass time.
Second worst scenario is he gets a year or two in prison and it whips his followers into a frenzy.
Worst case scenario is he faces no legal repercussions and is able to act with impunity.
I think your best case scenario needs to play out and then he gets locked up.
Isn't alex jones still avoiding paying his settlement, and simultaneously making money off of it? You may not hear of him as much, but his former listeners are still throwing money at him.
He was trying to file Chapter 11 last I heard in January, which is basically just "ok I'll restructure my business to make less money". It looks like settlement discussions were supposed to start up again back in March after both parties were able to solicit votes for their plans - Jones was trying to put forth a $55mil settlement, and the plaintiffs were trying to force him to pay in full.