Former president donald trump on Sunday said he thinks there would be a “breaking point” for the public if he were sentenced to house arrest or prison after being found guilty on all counts in hush money trial last week.
In clips from a 90-minute interview on “Fox & Friends Weekend” that aired on Sunday, Trump was asked about the possibility of the judge Juan Merchan, who presides over the case, sentencing him to house arrest or prison. Trump is set to be condemned on all 34 criminal charges in New York on July 11 – just days before the Republican National Convention.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said he is “OK with that” and acknowledged that “it could happen” but warned that it could be “difficult” for the public.
“I don’t know if the public would tolerate that. You know, I don’t — I’m not sure the public would accept that,” Trump said. “I think it would be difficult for the public to accept. You know, at a certain point, there’s a breaking point.”
Following Trump’s conviction in the silence trial, Trump supporters issued violent threats against 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 came just days after a Manhattan jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.
The charges on which Trump was convicted are classified as class E felony — a crime punishable by a fine, probation or up to four years in prison per charge. But some experts told NBC News they think it’s unlikely the former president will spend any time behind bars because of his age, lack of criminal history and other reasons.
Since the end of the trial, Trump has claimed that the process was “rigged”. Speaking to reporters and supporters at Trump Tower on Friday, the former president said: “This is a hoax. There is a fraudulent trial. It shouldn’t be in that location. We shouldn’t have had that judge.”
He added: “All this is done by [President Joe] Biden and his people. This is done by Washington. Nobody has ever seen anything like this.”
At the Trump Tower event, he also promised to appeal the jury’s verdict, saying: “We will appeal this scam. We’re going to appeal on a lot of different things.”
After Trump blamed Biden and Democrats for his conviction and trial, Biden made his own comments, telling reporters at the White House“It’s reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible for someone 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 secret money case, referring to the partial silence order that Merchan imposed earlier this year, and repeated his evidence-free claims that the charge was part of an effort led by the Biden White House to interfere with his electoral prospects.
“I think the first presidential candidate and the leader, leading the corrupt Joe [Biden] However much it is not allowed to speak, perhaps they are doing me a great favor. Who knows?” he said. “But I’m not allowed to talk – I’m gagged.”
The order prohibited Trump from speaking about court staff, potential jurors and potential witnesses.
During the trial, Merchan fined Trump thousands of dollars for violating the order several times and warned that he could be arrested for violating him.
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
