Trump supporters clashed with counter-protesters outside the New York courthouse, where the ex-president’s secret trial begins Monday morning.
In fiery scenes, flag-waving Trump fans chanted slogans protesting his innocence and calling out the trial, which centers on allegations that Trump had sex with porn star Stormy Daniels and then paid to keep the ‘silent affair, of being politically motivated.
Opponents of the ex-president also gathered and tried to stifle their support by chanting “no one is above the law”.
The protests highlight the huge divide in opinion over the prosecution of Trump, who becomes the first former president in history to face a criminal trial.
At one point, a masked protester carrying a sign reading “Free TikTok” and “Jews against TikTok” chanted anti-Semitic slogans and was confronted by several other people for his comments.
Trump supporters clashed with counter-protesters outside the New York courthouse, where the ex-president’s secret trial begins Monday morning.
Opponents of the ex-president also gathered and tried to stifle their support by chanting “no one is above the law.”
Rudy Giuliani’s son also joined the crowd of Trump supporters and told DailyMail.com that whether or not the former president slept with Stormy Daniels was “irrelevant.”
The tense exchange almost turned violent after one woman responded to the man, but others intervened.
Rudy Giuliani’s son also joined the crowd of Trump supporters and told DailyMail.com it was “irrelevant” whether or not the former president slept with Stormy Daniels.
Andrew Giuliani said it wouldn’t be a crime if Trump had an affair with the porn star and said the hush money affair was a political attack.
“I have known President Trump for almost 25 years. He’s a mentor, a friend and almost like an uncle,” Giuliani said. “I feel very sad for our country.”
Giuliani claimed that Trump had been “persecuted” and that Biden’s administration had “no problem going after conservatives, including Trump.”
He said that “in many ways it doesn’t matter” that Trump slept with Stormy Daniels. The former president has denied the affair and hush money payments.
“We are in a courtroom, this is not a church. Whether he did it or not, it doesn’t matter,” Giuliani said.
Dion Cino, a Trump supporter who regularly demonstrates at the courthouse for the former president’s civil and criminal hearings, told DailyMail.com: “Every time they indict Trump, he goes up in the polls.”
These are failed political attempts by the left that actually help Donald Trump. Cini, 55, wore MAGA and waved by far the largest flag at the protest, bearing the message Trump 2024 Save America.
He also had another flag that said Don Jr 2028. Another supporter wearing a baseball cap that read Asian Pacific Americans for Trump, who declined to give his name, said he left China for the United States 20 years ago and that he feared his freedom was threatened. America.
“I believe this country is in decline and going in the wrong direction. This case, this trial is unfair.
“The American justice system is two-tiered.”
Protesters and supporters of Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump on the day of his criminal trial on hush money charges, in New York, US, April 15.
Republican U.S. presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump, attends his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday, April 15, 2024 in New York.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump (center) arrives to attend the first day of his secret trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, U.S., April 15, 2024.
Meanwhile, Steve Merczynski showed his support with a custom-made MAGA scarf and shirt in the colors of the United States flag.
“I’m not a lawyer but I hear what lawyers say, including those who don’t vote for Trump. Our entire legal system is corrupt,” said Merczynski, who runs a website that sells MAGA hammocks.
Several dozen supporters were gathered behind a barrier just in front of the courthouse with their flags and billboards.
About 100 yards away, in a separate compound, a similar number of Trump opponents waved their own flags with messages calling for Trump’s condemnation.
The crowds on both sides were vastly outnumbered by the press, who gathered by the hundreds from around the world for the trial.
Shortly before 9 a.m., a small crowd of anti-Trump protesters marched along a stretch of street adjacent to the former president’s supporters, chanting “No one is above the law, Trump is not above the law.”
A woman leading the group said: “The reason we are here is because this is election interference. »
She said Trump’s alleged secret payments were intended to silence the porn star so she could not reveal their affair during the 2016 election campaign.
“Trump tried to silence information he considered damaging to him,” the woman said. “He broke the law by doing this.”
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