Trump says going to jail for gag order violation would be a ‘great honor,’ compares himself to Mandela

Donald
Trump
on
Saturday
said
he
welcomed
the
prospect
of
going
to
jail
for
violating
a

gag
order
in
his
upcoming
New
York

hush
money
trial.

“I
will
gladly
become
a
Modern
Day
Nelson
Mandela
—
It
will
be
my
GREAT
HONOR,”
the
former
president
wrote
in
a
lengthy Truth
Social post
attacking
New
York
State
Supreme
Court
Judge
Juan
Merchan,
who
is
presiding
over
Trump’s
case.

It
was
not
the
first
time
Trump
has
likened
himself
to
a
martyr
as
he
faces
a
flurry
of
criminal
charges.

In
an
October
rant
against
his
various
lawsuits,
the
presumptive
Republican
nominee
also
compared
himself
to

Mandela,
the
former
president
of
South
Africa
who
spent
27
years
in
prison
for
his
anti-apartheid
activism.

And
last
week,
Trump
took
to
Truth
Social
to
share
a
message
that
likened
his
legal
troubles
to
the
persecution
of

Jesus
Christ.

Saturday’s
tirade
occurred
just
over
a
week
before
the
trial
is
scheduled
to
begin
on
April
15.

That
day,
jury
selection
will
get
underway
in
the state’s criminal
prosecution
of
the
former
president
on
34
counts
of falsifying
business
documents,
allegedly
in
order
to
hide
a
hush
money
payment
made
to
porn
star
Stormy
Daniels
weeks
before
the
2016
presidential
election.

Trump
has
accused
Merchan
of
being
compromised
because
of
his
daughter’s
role
at
a
progressive
consulting
firm
that
has
worked
for
Democrats.

Trump’s
social
media
rant
on
Saturday
was
the
latest
of
several
that
he
has
posted
about
the
judge’s
daughter
since
Merchan
first
imposed
an
initial
gag
order
at
the
end
of
March.

That
order
prohibited
Trump
from
making
public
statements
about
the
case’s
witnesses,
jurors
and
lawyers.
He
was
also
banned
from
publicly
speaking
about
court
staff,
employees
in
the
Manhattan
District
Attorney’s
office
and
their
family
members.
That
first
gag
order
came
in
response
to
Trump’s
repeated
calls
for
the
judge
to
recuse
himself.

One
day
after
the
first
gag
order
was
imposed
on
March
26,
Trump
went
after
Merchan’s
daughter
on
social
media.

Soon
after
that,
Merchan
granted
prosecutors
a
request
to
expand
the
scope
of
the
order
to
prohibit
direct
attacks
on
Merchan’s
family
members
and
the
family
of
Manhattan
District
Attorney
Alvin
Bragg.

Under
the
expanded
order,
Trump
can
still
criticize
Merchan
and
Bragg
individually.
But
he
is
not
allowed
to
target
their
families
publicly.

Playing
with
the
fire
of
his
gag
orders
is
becoming
routine
for
Trump.

In
October,
Judge
Arthur
Engoron
threatened
Trump
with
jail
time
for
violating
a
similar
order
in
a
civil
case
and
ultimately
issued
him
$10,000
in
fines.

President
Joe Biden’s reelection
campaign
seized
on
Saturday’s
Mandela
comments.

“Imagine
being
so
self-centered
that
you
compare
yourself
to
Jesus
Christ
and
Nelson
Mandela
all
within
the
span
of
little
more
than
a
week:
that’s
Donald
Trump
for
you,”
Biden
campaign
spokesperson
Jasmine
Harris
said
on
Saturday.