‘F***ing with us on Barron’s graduation’ is a mistake’: How the Trump campaign is weaponizing ‘hush money’ trial with fundraising emails and attacks on everything from the judge to ‘disgusting’ court bathrooms
The Manhattan judge overseeing the hush money trial has not yet made his decision, but the Trump campaign already believes the ability to block the former president from attending his son’s graduation is political dynamite.
“F***ing with us at Barron’s graduation ceremony has the potential to be the ‘$18M Mar-a-Lago valuation’ faux pas of this process,” a Trump insider told DailyMail.com.
Earlier this year, another judge in another lawsuit offered an $18 million valuation for Trump’s Florida club, a figure the former president said was an order of magnitude lower than the actual value and has since been used to to ridicule the outcome of a civil case. .
Likewise, his campaign is now trying to weaponize everything it can from the Manhattan hush-money lawsuit.
Any sign that Trump is being treated unfairly, including the courthouse’s dirty bathrooms, will be turned into talking points or campaign mailers, people familiar with this line of thinking say.
Barron Trump (left) recently poses with his father and a fan at Mar-a-Lago
The Trump campaign is using the former president’s ban from attending his son’s graduation ceremony in May to raise money
A team of allies is already ready to attack the judge or witnesses, while the suspect himself is kept under a silence order.
Barron Trump’s high school graduation ceremony was already used in fundraising emails within 24 hours of the issue being raised on the first day of Trump’s criminal trial.
While discussing the schedule in Courtroom 1530 of Manhattan Criminal Court, Trump’s lawyers asked that May 17 be kept open so Trump could attend the event.
Barron turned 18 last month and is graduating from Oxbridge Academy, about eight miles from Mar-a-Lago.
A lawyer for Trump also asked that June 3 be a recess day so he could attend his own son’s graduation ceremony.
But Judge Juan Merchan, who has tried to avoid delays in such a crucial, important case, said he could not yet rule on either request.
“It really depends on how we perform on time and where we are in the process,” he said.
“If everything goes according to schedule, without unnecessary delays, I’m sure we can postpone one or both days, but if we’re behind schedule, we won’t be able to.”
The next day, Trump’s email lists circulated a message with the subject line: “Forced to miss my son’s graduation.”
Judge Juan Merchan said he could not guarantee he would be released on May 17. “It really depends on how we’re doing on time and where we are in the process,” he said.
Trump called it a “rigged trial” and blasted the judge as he left court on Monday
It added another complaint to regular reminders that Trump is unable to visit critical swing states while confined in courtroom 1530.
“The heartless criminals are forcing me to skip my son’s graduation ceremony,” it said. “They want to ruin my life.”
A campaign source said: “Our team is preparing our allies with the facts about this case,” they said. “So we have all hands on deck and are exposing the truth to the broader public through every earned media opportunity we can.”
They added that the former president had to endure humiliating facilities in the aging courthouse.
It’s disgusting. The bathrooms are terrible, the courtroom itself is filthy,” they said. “And it’s just despicable what they’re doing to him.”
Allies said anyone could identify with a high school diploma.
“It’s something that I think most Americans find cruel,” said Alex Bruesewitz, a Trump-affiliated strategist.
“Above all, most Americans believe that this case, even many on the left, is the weakest of all cases, and that right now they are just intimidating Trump.
‘It doesn’t go down well with a lot of people. And now you’re involving his 18-year-old son.’
Trump is due to return to court on Thursday morning for day three of his trial
Trump’s son Eric weighed in at X on Monday.
“Judge Merchan is truly heartless for not allowing a father to attend his son’s graduation ceremony,” he wrote.
And the episode gave Trump a message for the media as he left the courtroom at the end of the proceedings.
“It looks like the judge won’t let me go to the graduation ceremony of my son, who has worked very, very hard,” he said to cameras in the 15th floor hallway
“He’s a great student and he’s very proud of the fact that he’s done so well and had been looking forward to getting his degree for years with his mom and dad there, and it seems like the judge isn’t telling me this scam will let you get away .
“It’s a scam.”