Trump’s allies are pushing his grievances while he's 'tied up in court' — here's how
Justice Juan Merchan has made it clear that he expects Donald Trump to be physically present in his courtroom every day during his hush money/falsifying business records trial — and if he fails to show up without giving notice in advance, a bench warrant for his arrest will be issued.
Being in court during the trial will keep Trump off the campaign trail.
But Axios' Sophia Cai, in a report published on April 18, stresses that Trump's "loyalists" and supporters are helping him push his grievances while he is in court.
READ MORE:Bragg urges Judge Merchan to punish Trump for 'extreme and deliberate' abuse of gag order
"With former President Trump tied up in court for much of the next six weeks or more," Cai explains, "supporters are staging events and creating an online chorus that the trial-bound Trump later touts on social media. Why it matters: The Trump loyalists, operating separately from his campaign, are amplifying Trump's grievance-fueled messaging well beyond his online rants and indignant statements before and after court sessions in Manhattan."
Those pushing this messaging, according to Cai, range from X CEO Elon Musk to Florida-based MAGA activist Laura Loomer to the former president's son Donald Trump Jr.
"Elon Musk told his 180 million followers on X that the New York hush-money case — in which Trump is accused of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to a porn star to keep her from publicizing their affair — 'is obviously a corruption of the law,'" Cai observes. "Trump reposted Musk's tweet…. Loomer is pumping out partisan research that seeks to link Judge Juan Merchan to liberals."
Cai notes that much of this "pro-Trump" messaging "doesn't dwell on the evidence in the New York case or Trump's other indictments," but rather, echoes "Trump's claims that the prosecutions of him are politically motivated."
READ MORE: 'He sets people off': Here’s what prospective hush money jurors said about Trump
"Conservative personalities — including Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham, Newt Gingrich and former White House official Stephen Miller — are among the Trump friendlies who've generated dozens of easily shared pro-Trump radio and TV soundbites this week," according to Cai. "Their posts have been staples of Trump's Truth Social feed as well as his campaign's feed.
READ MORE: Trump blasts GOP rep who voted to impeach him — and endorses his opponent
Read Axios' full report at this link.
