Former President Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial concluded with a historic conviction, and he continues to make false or misleading claims that frame the legal verdict as a partisan political attack. Trump falsely claimed that President Biden was behind the trial, when in fact it was brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, not the U.S. Department of Justice. Additionally, Trump claimed he was under a gag order that no presidential candidate had ever faced before, which is an exaggeration as the gag order only prohibited him from speaking about certain individuals involved in the case.
Trump also attacked the impartiality of Judge Merchan, who oversaw the case, calling him “conflicted” due to political contributions made by the judge and his daughter. However, a panel of judges from the New York Appellate Division recently upheld Merchan’s decision not to recuse himself from the case, despite the political contributions. Trump made false claims that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg only pursued the case against him after he announced his candidacy for president, when in reality, Bragg had been moving forward with the case before Trump’s announcement.
The trial did not take place in federal court, as Trump claimed, but rather within the court system in New York. The judge had imposed a gag order on Trump initially to restrict him from discussing certain individuals involved in the case, which he later violated multiple times and was fined for. Despite Trump’s claims of political bias and conflict of interest, the judge’s actions and decisions were upheld by a separate panel of judges.
Trump’s repeated attacks on the judge, the district attorney, and the legal process as a whole are part of his ongoing attempts to discredit the legal system and cast himself as a victim of political persecution. However, the facts do not support his claims of bias or unfair treatment. The trial was conducted in accordance with legal procedures, and the verdict was based on the evidence presented in court. Trump’s continued false and misleading statements about the trial only serve to undermine the credibility of the legal system and perpetuate a false narrative of victimhood.
