Trump Responds To Gag Order Fine, Says Judge Is ‘Rigging’ 2024 Election

Former President Donald Trump said Judge Juan Merchan is “rigging” the 2024 presidential election after the judge slapped Trump with a $9,000 fine and threatened to jail him for social media posts that violated his gag order in the New York hush-money trial.

Merchan wrote in an order on Tuesday that Trump had violated his gag order nine times, fining him $1,000 for each offense. The former president is prohibited from commenting on potential witnesses, jurors, court staff, attorneys, and members of the judge’s family. Prosecutors urged Merchan to take action on Trump for violating the gag order, pointing to posts he made on his social media site Truth Social or his campaign website about Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, and the jury pool.

“This Judge has taken away my Constitutional Right to FREE SPEECH,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday afternoon. “I am the only Presidential Candidate in History to be GAGGED. This whole ‘Trial’ is RIGGED, and by taking away my FREEDOM OF SPEECH, THIS HIGHLY CONFLICTED JUDGE IS RIGGING THE PRESIDENTIAL OF 2024 ELECTION. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!”