Just one day after Judge Juan Merchan imposed a gag order on him in former President Donald Trump‘s upcoming criminal trial, Trump lashed out at the judge’s daughter Loren for posting a picture of him behind bars as her profile photo on the social media site X. A court official fired back that someone else took control of her account. But what did Trump say about Loren?
In a scathing post on Truth Social, Trump said Loren Merchan was making it impossible for him to get a fair trial. He didn’t just take shots at her, either. He said the judge was suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (whatever that is), and he added that the judge’s daughter “represents Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, and other Radical Liberals.” Say what you will about Trump, the man sure does love a nickname.
Trump also said the judge should recuse himself and that the judge was trying to “take away my rights” with “another illegal, un-American, unConstitutional ‘order.'” Court spokesman Al Baker fired back, saying that while the account once belonged to Loren, she deleted it around a year ago, per The New York Times. The “account being attributed to Judge Merchan’s daughter no longer belongs to her,” Baker said. “It is not linked to her email address, nor has she posted under that screen name since she deleted the account. Rather, it represents the reconstitution, last April, and manipulation of an account she long ago abandoned.”
It’s not known who is behind the account, but as of this writing, there is no profile photo on that account anymore. Trump said the gag order imposed by the judge is an attempt to “wrongfully … deprive me of my First Amendment Right to speak out against the Weaponization of Law Enforcement, including the fact that Crooked Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, and their Hacks and Thugs are tracking and following me all across the Country, obsessively trying to persecute me, while everyone knows I have done nothing wrong!” … Sure, “everyone” knows!
The gag order, by the way, is to prevent Trump from attacking court staff, witnesses, jurors and prosecutors, but the judge and his family are not included, so Trump has not violated it. In a separate post, Trump went hard at the Judge, calling him biased and conflicted, and the case a “sham.” If the trial moves forward, Trump said, “it will be another sad example of our Country becoming a Banana Republic.”
The judge and his daughter are both Democrats, adding fuel to Trump’s fire, and lending credence (as much as can be lent in the situation) to Trump’s claims that the trial amounts to political persecution, and that he is the victim. Playing the victim and bully at the same time is one of Trump’s specialities, and he’s very, very good at it. Loren, by the way, has worked at a marketing agency that helps Democratic candidates called Authentic. Trump’s lawyers have used this to fact to argue that Judge Merchan should recuse himself, because Loren could see financial benefits from whatever the judge decides.
However, a judicial ethics committee, in an advisory opinion, said the judge’s impartiality can’t “reasonably be questioned.” This won’t stop Trump’s lawyers from continuing to try, though. Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, even while he is the presumptive nominee for President. He’s the first former President in U.S. history to be charged criminally, and this trial takes on special historical meaning, mostly because it’s the only one that will happen before the election in November. If Trump is found guilty, he faces up to four years in prison, although jail time isn’t guaranteed and highly unlikely.
Trump’s two other trials, one for subverting the election, and one involving classified documents, are moving much more slowly. Trump continues to call the trial a “witch hunt.” Judge Marchan dismissed attempts by Trump’s lawyers to dismiss or (Trump’s favorite judicial tactic) delay the trial. This means that barring any more delays, the trial will begin on April 15.
After the judge set the date, Trump spoke to lawyers outside the courtroom, and called Judge Marchan’s decision “election interference.”
“This is a case that could have been brought three and a half years ago. And now they’re fighting over days because they want to try and do it during the election. This is election interference. That’s all it is. Election interference and it’s a disgrace,” Trump said. The trial will begin with jury selection, a tough ask for impartiality, considering Manhattan is a heavily Democratic burough.
