'Lock him up': Internet mocks Donald Trump after Judge Juan Merchan imposes partial gag order in hush money case

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: On Tuesday, March 26, former President Donald Trump was prohibited from publicly criticizing witnesses, prosecutors, court officials, and jurors in his impending "hush money" criminal trial in New York.

Judge Juan Merchan of the Manhattan Supreme Court issued the limited gag order, considering Trump's lengthy track record of disparaging prosecutors, court personnel, and even members of secret grand juries in press briefings and on social media, according to the New York Post.

Merchan wrote, “Such inflammatory, extrajudicial statements undoubtedly risk impeding the orderly administration of this court.”

“Given that the eve of trial is now upon us, it is without question that the imminency of the risk of harm is now paramount,” the judge asserted.

What does Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order on Donald Trump entail?

Under the order, the 77-year-old presumptive GOP presidential nominee is prohibited from speaking or “directing others to make” statements about potential upcoming trial witnesses, including his former personal attorney Michael Cohen, and Stormy Daniels, the adult film star to whom Cohen allegedly paid $130,000 to remain silent about an alleged affair on the eve of the 2016 presidential election.

The decision implies that Donald Trump will still be free to vent his fury against the elected Democrat in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office is leading the “hush-money” prosecution.

Last year in March, Trump famously incited fury by posting a picture of himself with a baseball bat next to Bragg's head and threatening “death and destruction” if he was criminally charged in New York.

However, Trump is not allowed to speak about the case's prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo, who’s deemed as one of President Joe Biden's top officials in the Justice Department.

At a Monday press conference, the MAGA strongman blasted the prosecutor, branding him a "radical left from DOJ" who had been assigned to the DA's office "to run the trial against Trump and that was done by Biden and his thugs."

As of Tuesday afternoon, Donald Trump was still permitted to comment about Merchan, the judge presiding over the criminal case.

In a post on his social networking platform, Truth Social, he did so as recently as Tuesday morning, where the former POTUS praised the jurist's appearance before denouncing him as a "Trump Hater."

“Judge Juan Merchan, a very distinguished looking man, is nevertheless a true and certified Trump Hater who suffers from a very serious case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” he wrote. “In other words, he hates me!”

Trump’s attorneys have advanced the argument that their client should be granted the “unfettered” ability to address the case under consideration, which stands scheduled for trial on April 15.

At present, it remains unclear how Judge Merchan will choose to respond if the ex-president violates the court's gag order.

In the event of such a breach, the judge may opt to impose a fine or, in theory, even imprisonment, though the latter outcome would be highly improbable.

Jurors at Trump's trial will decide whether he is guilty of falsifying his business records to conceal the Daniels payoff and hide from voters the bombshell allegation that he had cheated on his wife Melania Trump just months after she gave birth to their son Barron.

Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels and entered a not-guilty plea to 34 felony charges of falsifying business documents, each of which carries a maximum four-year prison sentence.

In a previous civil fraud lawsuit held in Manhattan, Trump had paid $15,000 in penalties after the presiding judge had determined that the defendant had violated a mandate that prohibited him from making derogatory statements regarding the court's personnel.

Internet mocks Donald Trump for getting hit with another gag order

People on X lambasted the former President of the United States for being reprimanded by Judge Juan Merchan after he imposed a partial gag order on Trump in the New York hush money criminal case.

One X user remarked: “Keeping it respectful in court is so important. Good decision!"

Another user wrote: "Who cares? Lock him up. This is getting so old."

Another user argued: "Stop Giving Trump Gag Orders & Start Holding Him In Contempt."

One user asked: "We've seen this before. Will his whining and stomping his feet get him off?"

Another X user asserted: "As they should. Goes without saying that stands for no threats too."

Finally, this user tweeted: "Good. Don't bring up the judge's daughter and where she works. I'm so tired of Trump doing this stuff all the time, yet here come the people claiming Trump's a victim."

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.