Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event April 2, 2024 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Donald Trump said Saturday he welcomed the prospect of going to prison for violating a silence order at his upcoming secret trial in New York.
“I will happily become a modern-day Nelson Mandela – it will be my GREAT HONOR,” the former president wrote in a lengthy Truth Social article attacking New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan. who is presiding over Trump’s trial.
This is not the first time Trump has compared himself to a martyr as he faces a series of criminal charges.
In an October diatribe against his various lawsuits, the Republican presidential front-runner also compared himself to Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa who spent 27 years in prison for his anti-apartheid activism.
And last week, Trump shared a post on Truth Social comparing his legal troubles to the persecution of Jesus Christ.
Saturday’s tirade took place just over a week before the trial was scheduled to begin on April 15.
That day, jury selection will begin in the state’s criminal prosecution of the former president on 34 counts of falsifying business records, allegedly to hide a hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels weeks before the 2016 presidential election.
Trump accused Merchan of being compromised because of his daughter’s role at a progressive consulting firm that worked for Democrats.
Trump’s social media rant Saturday was the latest in a series he has posted about the judge’s daughter since Merchan first imposed an initial silence order in late March.
That order barred Trump from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and attorneys in the case. He was also prohibited from speaking publicly about court staff, employees of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and their family members. This initial silence came in response to Trump’s repeated calls for the judge to recuse himself.
A day after the first silence was imposed, on March 26, Trump attacked Merchan’s daughter on social media.
Shortly thereafter, Merchan acceded to prosecutors to expand the scope of the order to prohibit direct attacks against members of Merchan’s family 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 publicly target their families.
Playing with the fire of his gag orders is becoming routine for Trump.
In October, Judge Arthur Engoron threatened Trump with prison time for violating a similar order in a civil case and ultimately fined him $10,000.
President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign built on Mandela’s comments from Saturday.
“Imagine being so self-centered that you compare yourself to Jesus Christ and Nelson Mandela in the space of a little over a week: that’s Donald Trump for you,” the campaign spokeswoman said Saturday Biden, Jasmine Harris.
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