Fox News host Jesse Watters has blasted the controversial gag order imposed on former President Donald Trump as “unconstitutional.”
Trump, who is facing felony charges in his so-called hush money criminal trial ahead of the 2024 presidential election for which he is the presumptive GOP nominee, was defended by the host during the April 23 installment of “Jesse Watters Primetime.” Watters made the comments against Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order as the trial entered its sixth day in court.
The media host opened the segment related to Trump’s trial by pointing out that “Democrats still haven’t named” the underlying crime behind the decision to elevate a misdemeanor charge to a felony in the “hush money” trial, where Democrats claim Trump paid to cover up an affair and influence the 2016 presidential election. As the trial gets underway, the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has requested that Trump be fined for allegedly violating a gag order imposed by Merchan.
Watters stated that the gag was “unconstitutional,” especially considering that Democrat prosecutors have insisted on restricting a Republican’s speech during a highly contentious election season.
Trump also told reporters after the gag order was issued last month that he, too, considers the order “unconstitutional,” noting that it prevents him from speaking about people involved in the case but allows “other people to talk about me.” The former president has long criticized the case as a political “witch hunt” that keeps him inside a courtroom while his Democrat opponent, President Joe Biden, is able to continue his campaign.
In a post shared to X, Watters included a caption which pointed out that the gag order and lack of cameras in the courtroom force voters “to trust what the reporters in the room say.” He added that these are “the same reporters” that covered media “hoaxes” related to Russia, Hunter Biden’s laptop and the COVID-19 lab leak.
TRUMP TRIAL DAY 6: Trump's gagged and there's no cameras, so voters have to trust what the reporters in the room say… The same reporters who pushed the Russia, laptop, and lab leak hoaxes. Biden’s fingerprints are all over this, as we learn Trump's team is accusing the White… pic.twitter.com/RdXLcld0Pq
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) April 24, 2024
Merchan issued the controversial order on March 26, prohibiting the defendant from publicly discussing witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff and their families with the intention of influencing the verdict.
The order was added to on April 1, when the judge included a stipulation that his own family and Bragg’s to be protected in the order. However, Trump is not barred from making comments about the judge or the district attorney themselves.
The former president—who is the nation’s first to stand a criminal trial—has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, which allege he falsified business documents to keep a romantic affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels a secret. The prosecution argues that Trump covered up a $130,000 payment made by his former attorney Michael Cohen to the actress prior to the 2016 election.
Trump has also denied having had a romantic fling with Daniels.
