According to recent reports, former President Donald Trump will be allowed to attend the highly anticipated graduation of his son, Barron. Previously, Trump was questioning if he would be able to leave the New York hush money trial to attend the high school graduation ceremony.
However, Judge Juan Merchan granted Trump permission to attend the event in Florida later in May. “I don’t think the May 17 date is a problem,” Merchan announced to the court on Tuesday morning. For weeks, Trump had argued that he should be allowed to leave New York and attend the graduation.
“(Barron’s) a great student and he’s very proud of the fact he did so well and was looking forward for years to having his graduation with his mother and father there, and it looks like the judge isn’t going to allow me to escape this scam. It’s a scam trial,” Trump said in April.
Trump has been highly critical of Merchan in his post-court comments to the press, where he claimed the judge is “badly conflicted” and the entire trial is a “hoax.” “This is a hoax. This is a judge who is conflicted. Badly, badly, badly conflicted. I’ve never seen a judge so conflicted and giving us virtually no rulings,” Trump stated.
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the hush money case brought against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Trump has maintained his innocence, slamming the case for taking him off the campaign trail as the election draws nearer.
However, Trump noted that regardless of the trial’s hindrance to his campaign efforts, his poll numbers are reportedly the highest they have ever been. The former president suggested that “everybody” knows the trial is a “scam” and that Judge Merchan should withdraw himself from the case.
“I’m going to sit in the freezing cold icebox for 8 hours, 9 hours or so. They took me off the campaign trail. But the good news is my poll numbers are the highest it’s ever been. So at least we’re getting the word out. And everybody knows this trial is a scam. It’s a scam. The judge should be recused, that he should recuse himself today he should recuse himself today. And maybe he will,” Trump said.
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Furthermore, Merchan ordered Trump to pay a fine of $9,000 on Tuesday for violating a gag order that was ordered to prevent him from making public comments about those involved trial. The judge claimed he violated the order on nine occasions, each carrying a $1,000 penalty.
Trump previously slammed the gag order issued against him on Truth Social, writing, “Judge Juan Merchan, who is suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (whose daughter represents Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, and other Radical Liberals, has just posted a picture of me behind bars, her obvious goal, and makes it completely impossible for me to get a fair trial) has now issued another illegal, un-American, unConstitutional ‘order,’ as he continues to try and take away my Rights.”