Internet divided as Judge Juan Merchan accuses Trump of trying to intimidate juror during hush money trial

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan accused Donald Trump of intimidating a prospective juror by gesturing and "muttering" when the woman was brought in to clarify purported "anti-Trump" social media posts, as per the New York Post.

During jury selection on Tuesday, April 16, Judge Merchan told Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche, "Your client was audibly muttering something." However, the judge was unable to clarify what the former president was possibly mumbling and said, "I don’t know what he was muttering."

Judge accuses Donald Trump of trying to intimidate juror during trial

Judge Merchan stated that the ex-POTUS' intense moment transpired only "12 feet away" from the potential panelist, who was present at a courtroom lectern ready to respond to questions about two Facebook posts that Blanche asserted were "extraordinarily hostile."

"I won’t tolerate that. I won’t have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom. I will be crystal clear," warned Judge Merchan.

The altercation occurred when Blanche was interrogating a group of 18 potential jurors during a "voir dire," in which defense attorneys and prosecutors reduced the potential jury pool to choose a fair group of 12 panelists to determine the fate of the former president.

Blance was targeting to get the woman, Juror No B133, removed due to a social media video that showed celebrations on Manhattan's 96th Street following the 45th president's loss in the 2020 elections.

Trump’s other lawyer Susan Necheles said, "This is a woman who said she never attended a Trump rally," claiming the celebrations seen in the video to be an "anti-Trump event."

However, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass disputed the assertion, saying, "This is somebody filming people celebrating from a remote distance."

The woman – an employee with the city’s Department of  Education who lives on the Upper West Side – said she had been going to move her car for alternate side parking when she spotted "people dancing in the street and stuff."

She told the court, "It reminded me of the 7 o’clock cheer for the healthcare workers (during the COVID pandemic), which we did for a very long time out on the fire escape, and it was just a New York City celebratory moment."

When Blanche questioned her about another video that was uploaded around the time that Trump lost the 2020 election, the woman affirmed that she could put aside her biases and follow the facts at trial. 

Internet reacts to Judge Juan Merchan accusing Donald Trump of trying to intimidate juror during trial

One wrote, "He can’t get a fair trial!" while another added, "The deck is stacked against Trump, now he can not even question the jurors for his trial. This is so anti-American it is beyond words."

A person noted, "He will never stop the madness," and someone else mentioned, "Looks like they already have a case for appeal. I that didn't take long."

"He needs to be moved into a separate room and made to watch via video... That would remove any and all intimidating. He acts like a 4 year old and is not going to cooperate with the rules. It's not the Donny show. Watch what he does once trial the starts," expressed an individual. 

One more simply said, "Such a reach," slamming Judge Merchan. "America and its kangaroo court system," shared another person. 

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