The latest gag order imposed on Donald Trump was applauded by legal analyst Glenn Kirschner, who said he hopes it curtails the former president's "endlessly dangerous, violence-inspiring rhetoric."
New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, presiding over Trump's hush-money case, on Tuesday imposed a gag order on the former president, limiting what he can say publicly about individuals related to the trial involving financial transactions from Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. It's one of several gag orders that have been issued to Trump amid his sea of legal challenges, and the former president's campaign said the restrictions violate his First Amendment rights.
Kirschner, a vocal Trump critic and former assistant U.S. attorney, weighed in on the former president's third gag order in a segment of his Justice Matters podcast, shared on X, formerly Twitter, Tuesday night.
"First of all, I applaud any gag order that is put in place that is designed to shut Donald Trump up, specifically to stop him from endangering everybody who is involved in the endeavor of trying to hold Donald Trump accountable for his crimes," Kirschner said. "Donald Trump is endlessly endangering witnesses and their family members, jurors, prosecutors and their family members, members of the court and the court staff. And it is beyond me why we continue to sacrifice the safety of everybody involved in trying to hold Donald Trump accountable for his crimes instead of holding Donald Trump accountable for his endlessly dangerous, violence-inspiring rhetoric."
Newsweek reached out via email on Tuesday night to Kirschner and Trump's representatives for comment.
The former prosecutor has frequently criticized Trump over his rhetoric, accusing the Make America Great Again (MAGA) leader of inciting violence and endangering Americans. Recently, Kirschner condemned Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, over his remarks at a rally where the former president said that if he loses in November, there will be a "bloodbath for the country."
Tuesday's gag order came hours after Trump attacked Merchan and his daughter in a post on Truth Social, calling the judge a "certified Trump Hater."
Kirschner took aim at Trump over the social media post, accusing the former president of signaling his supporters: "Any time he posts the name of somebody who is one of his perceived enemies, what he's telling his supporters is 'get them, get them.'" The legal analyst argued that Trump is a danger to society.
"This is like we're living in the 'upside down,' where Donald Trump should be the one detained pending trial because he's a danger to the community and the people in the community. And he's on pretrial release and for felony cases," Kirschner said. "But no, we just keep dancing around the edges putting gag orders in place, telling him, 'Don't say this, don't say that,' and we sacrifice the safety of everyone else."
In a phone call with Newsweek on Wednesday, Kirschner noted that Merchan's motion did not include his own family members, although there is a chance of the judge expanding the gag order against Trump given that the former president posted about Merchan's daughter to Truth Social for a second day in a row.
"It wouldn't surprise me if the judge expanded and refined his gag order to include his family members because I think they are, they should be out of bounds," Kirschner told Newsweek.
Trump wrote in a series of posts Wednesday morning that Merchan was "such a hater because his daughter makes money by working to 'Get Trump,' and when he rules against me over and over again, he is making her company, and her, richer and richer." The judge's daughter, Loren, is a political consultant whose firm has worked on campaigns for Democrats such as President Joe Biden.
The former president specifically objected to an image that Merchan's daughter posted to social media which showed Trump behind bars in his posts. The Associated Press (AP) reported that an account on X, formerly Twitter, that appears to belong to Loren Merchan had an illustration of an imprisoned Trump set as its profile picture Wednesday morning. That image was later changed, according to AP's report.
Update 03/27/24, 4:34 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional comment from Glenn Kirschner.
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