Hispanic man apologizes to Trump on behalf of Judge Juan Merchan at rally, Internet wonders if he was paid

BRONX, NEW YORK: A Hispanic speaker apologized to former President Donald Trump on behalf of the judge overseeing his hush money trial, and who is also of Hispanic origin, reported The Daily Beast.

During Trump's rally in the Bronx, New York, on Thursday, May 23, former New York City councilman Ruben Diaz joined the 45th president on stage, expressing his apology for the conduct of Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the hush money criminal trial in the Empire State.

Diaz, a Democratic Party member on paper, however, opposes abortion and same-sex marriage. He endorsed the real estate mogul and mentioned the criminal trial in Manhattan, where closing arguments are expected to be given on May 28.

Ruben Diaz apologizes to Trump on behalf of Judge Juan Merchan

Joining Trump on stage, Diaz said, "I am here for a variety of reasons, but I want to tell you first, that as a Puerto Rican, as a Hispanic, I want to apologize to you for the conduct of Judge Juan Merchan."

"As a Hispanic, I want to apologize. He has been used to destroy you, but we know better than that."

The former New York City councilman's remarks came less than a week after Trump attacked Judge Merchan based on his country of birth.

Addressing reporters after a recent day in court, the GOP presumptive nominee accused the judge of hating him, adding, "Just take a look. Take a look at him. Take a look at where he comes from. He can't stand Donald Trump. He's doing everything in his power."

Judge Merchan was born in Bogota, Columbia, and came to Queens, New York, at the age of six.

Since the trial started in April, Trump has often lashed out at the judge who was not part of a gag order that prevented the defendant from making public remarks about the witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court members, or their families.

In a recent radio interview, the real estate mogul blamed Judge Merchan for his decision not to testify in the trial. According to Trump, the judge's rulings favoring the prosecution made it "difficult" to take the witness stand.

After both sides had rested their case, Trump returned to the campaign trail with a massive rally in the Bronx in order to woo the voters of the deep-blue New York state.

Internet doubts if the Hispanic supporter was paid 

Netizens speculated that Diaz might have been paid to publicly apologize to Trump on behalf of the Columbia-born Judge Merchan.

One user wrote, "Probably has no idea what the trail is about, but will be paid afterwards for his performance." Another asked, "So, how many people will tRump hire to praise him and then not pay them for their lies?"

A third user echoed the same doubt, asking, "I wonder how much he was paid or promised?"

"Does anyone else think he was paid to say this? I do," read a fourth response.

Another person said, "I wonder how much they paid that guy to lie, like that. Judge Merchan, has been in the states, since he was 6 yrs old, or younger, I’m sure he considered himself as an American citizen."

Someone else stated, "So many willing to sell their soul. Wonder how much he’s getting paid cause we know everything is staged and everything is a grift! Pathetic!"

An individual questioned, "So how big of a bounced check did Trump just write?" Another user also asked, "How much money did he make for that appearance?"

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.