Just hours after the former president was again found to have violated his gag order, Donald Trump told reporters he was willing to do so again, even if it means jail time.
Addressing reporters Monday evening outside the Manhattan courthouse where's he standing trial, Trump, who is barred from attacking jurors and witnesses, complained that “I have to watch every word I tell you people." The gag order, he insisted, is a "disgrace."
All the while, his lawyer, Todd Blanche stood behind him, expressionless. He did not intervene when his client went on to claim that he is indifferent to the threat of jail time (“It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent. Going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction,” Judge Juan Merchan said Monday).
“Frankly, you know what, our Constitution is much more important than jail,” Trump said, a claim that comes after he previously called for the "termination" of the U.S. Constitution so he could return to office after losing an election. “It’s not even close," the presumptive Republican candidate continued. "I’ll do that sacrifice any day.”
Trump has already been using the contempt charges against in his election campaign. Attempting to make lemonade out of lemons, a fundraiser email sent out before court on Monday read, in red lettering: “The liberal judge in New York just threatened to THROW ME IN JAIL. They want me in HANDCUFFS,” Politico reported.
Despite Trump's rhetoric, Merchan said Monday that he would prefer not to jail Trump for breaking the gag order, citing the disruption it would cause to proceedings.
