Former President Donald Trump on Sunday said he thinks there would be a “breaking point” for the public if he is sentenced to house arrest or imprisonment after he was found guilty on all counts in the hush money trial last week.
In clips of a 90-minute interview with “Fox & Friends Weekend” that aired Sunday, Trump was asked about the possibility of Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the case, sentencing him to house arrest or jail. Trump is set to be sentenced on all 34 felony counts in New York on July 11 — just days before the Republican National Convention.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said he is “OK with it” and acknowledged that “it could happen,” but warned that it could be “tough” for the public.
“I don’t know that the public would stand it. You know, I don’t — I’m not sure the public would stand for it,” Trump said. “I think it would be tough for the public to take. You know, at a certain point, there’s a breaking point.”
In the wake of Trump’s conviction in the hush money trial, Trump supporters have issued violent threats targeting Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a series of posts on the same websites used by Trump supporters to coordinate ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, NBC News reported. A message board known to be used by Trump supporters also sought to publicly release the addresses of jurors in the case.
The former president’s comments come just days after a Manhattan jury found him guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
The charges Trump was convicted of are classified as a class E felony — a crime that is punishable by a fine, probation or up to four years in prison per count. But some experts told NBC News they think it’s unlikely the former president will face time behind bars because of his age, his lack of a criminal record and other reasons.
Since the end of the trial, Trump has maintained that the proceedings were “rigged.” Speaking to reporters and supporters at Trump Tower on Friday, the former president said, “This is a scam. There’s a rigged trial. It shouldn’t have been in that venue. We shouldn’t have had that judge.”
He added, “This is all done by [President Joe] Biden and his people. This is done by Washington. No one has ever seen anything like this.”
At the Trump Tower event, he also promised to appeal the jury’s verdict, saying, “We’re going to be appealing this scam. We’re going to be appealing it on many different things.”
After Trump blamed Biden and Democrats for his conviction and the trial, Biden made his own remarks, telling reporters at the White House, “It’s reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict.”
In the interview with “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Trump said he is not allowed to talk about the hush money case, referring to the partial gag order that Merchan imposed earlier this year, and repeated his claims without evidence that the prosecution was part of an effort led by the Biden White House to interfere with his election prospects.
“I guess the first presidential nominee and the leader, leading crooked Joe [Biden] by a lot, that’s not allowed to talk, maybe they’re doing me a big favor. Who knows?” he said. “But I’m not allowed to talk — I’m gagged.”
The order barred Trump from speaking about court staff, potential jurors and potential witnesses.
During the trial, Merchan fined Trump thousands of dollars for violating the order multiple times and warned that he could be imprisoned for violating it.
