Former President Trump’s allies have seized on the judge overseeing the New York hush money case delaying a decision on whether to allow him to attend his son Barron’s high school graduation in May.
“Judge Merchan is truly heartless in not allowing a father to attend his son’s graduation,” another of Trump’s sons, Eric, said on the social media platform X Monday.
According to New York state law, the former president must attend his whole trial and cannot leave until the judge permits him to do so. Merchan declined to make a decision on whether Trump should be allowed to attend the graduation on Monday, although he did not completely rule it out.
The former president accuses Judge Juan Merchan of preventing him from attending the graduation, claiming that his son “was looking forward to that graduation with his mother and father there.”
“It appears that the judge is not going to allow me to escape this scam,” Trump told reporters. “It’s a scam trial.”
Trump also expressed his dissatisfaction with the situation in a post on Truth Social Monday.
“Who will explain for me, to my wonderful son, Barron, who is a GREAT Student at a fantastic School, that his Dad will likely not be allowed to attend his Graduation Ceremony, something that we have been talking about for years, because a seriously Conflicted and Corrupt New York State Judge wants me in Criminal Court on a bogus ‘Biden Case,'” Trump wrote on his Facebook page.
In a post on X early Tuesday morning, Utah Sen. Mike Lee (R) stated that “telling Trump he can’t attend Barron’s graduation goes beyond mere jackassery”.
“This is deliberately cruel,” he wrote in his post.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake said she was “heartbroken” for the former president and his youngest son.
“All the hard work our kids put into graduating, & President Trump is being robbed of getting to experience his son’s High School graduation ceremony,” Lake said in her follow-up. “This crooked judge is heartless and cruel. “We the People will send a message in November and reclaim our country.”
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), another staunch Trump supporter, claimed Merchan added “that President Trump can’t even attend his son’s graduation.”
“I mean, come on,” Donalds stated on Newsmax’s “National Report” on Tuesday. “That is pure spite.”