Donald Trump sent his wife a message from court on her 54th birthday on Friday, the eighth day of his criminal trial concerning a hush money payment made during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump is the first former president to undergo a criminal trial after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged him in a 34-count indictment with falsifying business records in connection with a payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.
Bragg has accused Trump of making the $130,000 payment to prevent Daniels from publicizing her claim that she had an affair with Trump. The former president has denied the affair and pleaded not guilty to all charges. He has also accused Bragg and prosecutors in his other criminal cases of targeting him for political purposes, saying the Manhattan case is election interference.
On Friday, Trump told reporters at the Manhattan court that he is being forced to attend the trial rather than celebrate Melania Trump's birthday.
"I want to start by wishing my wife, Melania, a very happy birthday. Would be nice to be with her, but I'm in a courthouse for a rigged trial. It's a rigged trial. Terrible," he said.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign for comment via email.
Social Media Reacts to Trump Remarks
Video of his remarks went viral on X (formerly Twitter) and amassed hundreds of thousands of views. Trump critics took issue with the comments.
"Fun fact. The heart of this criminal case is covering up his multiple affairs...while married to his birthday girl. Something tells me she's not crying in her gold coffee cup over him not being there," wrote political commentator Fred Wellman.
"Nah, she's good. It's a gorgeous day in South Florida and all the better because he isn't here," wrote commentator Rachel Vindman.
Newsitics founder Alex Cole wrote, "Trump says he would rather spend the day with Melania for her birthday but he has to be in court. Trump is literally in court because he enjoyed cheating on Melania."
Others, however, echoed Trump's sentiments.
"President Trump wishes his wife, Melania Trump a HAPPY BIRTHDAY from the NYC Courthouse this morning. What they're doing to this man should disgust the entire nation," wrote Ryan Fournier, co-founder of the political organization Students for Trump.
"Such a disgrace that Judge Merchan is doing this to the Trump family," wrote @_johnnymaga, a popular conservative account on X.
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Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more
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