'Face the music you coward': Trump trolled as request to delay hush-money trial over immunity claim denied

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's criminal case in New York has rejected his bid to delay the April 15 start of his hush money criminal trial until the Supreme Court rules on the presidential immunity claim he has raised in another of his criminal cases.

Manhattan Judge Juan M Merchan denied Trump's request on Wednesday, April 3, deeming it to be “untimely” and ruling that his lawyers had months to raise the immunity issue before the motion was filed on March 7, per CBS News.

The 77-year-old MAGA strongman is charged with 34 felony counts of fabrication of business records tied to payments reimbursing his then-personal attorney Michael Cohen, who had paid $130,000 upon Trump’s instructions to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.

Daniels claims to have had a previous affair with the former president, however, Trump, on the other hand, has denied these allegations and pleaded not guilty.

What did Judge Merchan state in his ruling on Wednesday?

Judge Juan Merchan wrote in his Wednesday ruling, "This Court finds that Defendant had myriad opportunities to raise the claim of presidential immunity well before March 7, 2024. Defendant could have done so in his omnibus motions on September 29, 2023, which were filed a mere six days before he briefed the same issue in his Federal Insurrection Matter and several months after he brought his motion for removal to federal court on May 4, 2023." 

Judge Merchan's ruling stated that pre-trial motions must be filed within 45 days of arraignment. Donald Trump was arraigned in this criminal case last April.

The judge also pointed out in his ruling that the fact that Trump filed the request "a mere 17 days prior to the scheduled trial date of March 25, 2024, to file the motion, raises real questions about the sincerity and actual purpose of the motion."

The trial that was originally scheduled for March 25 was postponed to a later date due to a disagreement over approximately 100,000 documents that were produced by federal prosecutors.

Trump's legal team requested a further delay in the proceedings or a complete dismissal of the case, alleging that prosecutors acted improperly by not producing the new batch of documents in a timely manner.

In the hearing held last week, Judge Merchan expressed that the prosecutors "went so far above and beyond what they were required to do that really it's odd that we're even here taking this time."

Trump, the 2024 presumptive GOP nominee is currently facing multiple criminal cases as he campaigns for his second term.

In Florida, a trial date has yet to be confirmed for the alleged mishandling of classified documents after the former POTUS left office in 2021.

In Washington, DC, Trump is accused of plotting to overturn the 2020 election. However, the case has been put on hold as the Supreme Court deliberates on the issue of immunity.

Additionally, he is facing charges in Georgia relating to election interference, although Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Internet trolls Donald Trump for attempting to delay the start of his hush money criminal trial

People on X ridiculed the former president's request to delay his New York hush money case until after the Supreme Court rules on his presidential immunity appeal.

One X user remarked, "I’ve never seen an “innocent” person more eager to delay justice in my life"

Another user asked, "One would think you would want to have your day in court, if you're so innocent? Wouldn't you want to speed up the trial?"

Another user wrote, "Just go to trial and face the music you coward. Your ridiculous immunity claim isn't going to help you."

One user said, "He wasn’t president in 2016 so it’s idiotic for him to think he had immunity then".

Another X user tweeted, "Trump is so scared and desperate".

Finally, this user quipped, "But he's immune...LOL".

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.