Judge warns Trump he WILL be gagged if he incites violence

Judge warns Trump he WILL be gagged if he incites violence in court dressing down: Orders him to appear again on December 4 and warns he faces consequences for social media posts and comments

• Trump could face a gag order if he incites violence on social media 
• Manhattan Judge Merchan warned the ex-president about his activity online
• The next in-person hearing where Trump needs to appear is December 4 – just two months before the start of the 2024 GOP presidential primary calendar

Donald Trump and his team are not barred from talking publicly about his case, but Judge Juan Merchan warned during the arraignment Tuesday that he could hand down a gag order against the ex-president if he makes social media posts inciting violence.

A gag order would prevent Trump and his legal team from discussing the case publicly, which would extend to the defendant’s favorite form of communicating with his base – social media.

After Trump turned himself in for arrest on Tuesday morning in Manhattan, Judge Merchan said during the arraignment that he would need to return to his former home town for the next in-person hearing on December 4.

The next court date is eight months from the arraignment and roughly two months before the official start of the 2024 Republican presidential primary calendar.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all 34 counts.

Donald Trump and his legal team were warned against inciting violence on social media during his arraignment in Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon

Judge Juan Merchan (pictured) could issue a gag order, preventing Trump, his team and opposing counsel from discussing the case publicly – that has not yet been done. It comes after Trump lamented Merchan is in a ‘family of known Trump haters’

After leaving the arraignment on Tuesday, Trump is leaving New York and heading back to his estate at Mar-a-Lago, where he will deliver remarks in Palm Beach, Florida at 8:15 p.m.

In the weeks leading up to the indictment and the days following it, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to make a myriad of posts railing against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Judge Merchan and the grand jury.

The ex-president also warned of ‘death & destruction’ if he was charged in the Stormy Daniels hush money payment case and made a post that included an image of him holding a baseball bat next to a picture of Bragg’s head.

‘He wasn’t swinging a baseball bat at anyone’s head,’ Trump’s lawyer Joseph Tacopina said outside of the courthouse Tuesday. ‘That was a picture of him showing off an American-made bat.’

Judge Merchan warned Trump, his legal counsel and the opposing counsel during the arraignment Tuesday not to make any social media posts that could incite violence.

This followed a five-post rant Tuesday morning before Trump appeared at Manhattan criminal court for processing. 

One Truth Social post specifically claimed Merchan is a ‘highly partisan judge & his family are well known Trump haters.’

One social media post by Trump before he was charged included an image of an article showing him holding up a baseball bat next to an image of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg

Trump also made a post before the indictment warning that if he was charged there would be ‘death & destruction’

Merchan’s daughter Loren, 34, is president and partner of the progressive digital form Authentic campaigns, which works with a slew of Democratic clients and campaigns. She was the digital director for Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office accused Trump of making social media posts ‘threatening our city, our justice system, our courts and our office.’

One post before court on Tuesday saw the former president calling the whole ordeal a ‘kangaroo court.’

During the arraignment, Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said Trump’s posts were merely a response to prosecution witnesses talking publicly about the case – likely referencing Trump’s former ‘fixer’ and attorney Michael Cohen, who organized the settlement and made the payment to Daniels in 2016.

Blanche also said the posts were a form of protest against the ‘grave injustice’ Trump believes he is facing by being charged.

Manhattan Judge Juan Manuel Merchan and his daughter, Loren Merchan, 34, who works for progressive digital strategies firm Authentic Campaigns and worked as the digital director of Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign

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