Defendant Donald Trump just very stupidly made a threatening post on Truth Social that’ll help seal his fate
When Donald Trump was arrested and arraigned yesterday on federal criminal charges surrounding his previous attempt at overthrowing the United States government, the magistrate judge warned him that if he committed any crimes while awaiting trial, he’d be locked up until his trial. If Trump had any sense of self preservation at all, he’d be choosing his words very carefully right now. Instead, Trump is very stupidly throwing his future away.
Trump just posted this on his Truth Social platform: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” There’s no other context, just these words. But given the timing – he was just arraigned on federal criminal charges yesterday and he’s days away from being indicted on state criminal charges – this can be seen as a fairly direct threat against the prosecutors, and by extension the government and the people.
There is no doubt whatsoever that Jack Smith and the DOJ will put this social media post in front of the judge, either now, or at trial, or both. Trump’s lawyers will no doubt argue that Trump was merely threatening to take legal action against these prosecutors. But the judge may not be inclined to see it this way.
There are real consequences for this kind of thing. They tend to be incremental, and they’re largely at the discretion of the judge in the case. The judge may decide not to place stricter pretrial conditions on Trump based on this one post alone. But Trump will certainly be informed that if he keeps making posts like this, he will absolutely be tossed in a cell while awaiting a trial.
The notion that Donald Trump will “get away” with this kind of social media post is a silly one. With this kind of behavior, Trump is very stupidly helping to seal his fate. The federal judge who just called him “Mr. Trump” during his arraignment yesterday clearly doesn’t give a damn that Trump used to be President, and Trump won’t get any special treatment when it comes to this kind of thing.
