Former President Donald Trump said Sunday he thinks there would be a “breaking point” for the public if he is sentenced to house arrest or prison after being found guilty on all counts in last week’s hush money trial.
In segments of a 90-minute interview with “Fox & Friends Weekend” that aired Sunday, Trump was asked about the possibility of becoming a judge Juan Merchan, who presides over the case and sentences him to house arrest or prison. Trump will be sentenced on all 34 crimes in New York on July 11 – just days before the Republican National Convention.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said he was “OK with it” and acknowledged that “it could happen” but warned it could be “difficult” for the public.
“I don’t know if the public would tolerate this. You know, I don’t know. I’m not sure the public would be in favor of that,” Trump said. “I think it will be difficult for the public to accept this. You know, at some point there’s a breaking point.”
In the wake of Trump’s conviction in the hush money trial, Trump supporters made violent threats against Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a series of posts on the same websites used by Trump supporters to coordinate ahead of the January 6, 2021. Attack on the Capitol, NBC News reported. A message board known to be used by Trump supporters also attempted to publicly release the addresses of jurors in the case.
The former president’s comments come just days after a Manhattan jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying company records.
The charges Trump was convicted of are classified as a Class E felony – a misdemeanor punishable by a fine, probation or up to four years in prison per charge. But some experts told NBC News they think it’s unlikely the former president will end up behind bars because of his age, lack of criminal record and other reasons.
Since the end of the trial, Trump has maintained that the proceedings were “rigged.” Speaking to reporters and supporters at Trump Tower on Friday, the former president said: “This is a scam. This is a rigged process. It shouldn’t have been in that location. We shouldn’t have had that judge.”
He added: “This is all done by [President Joe] Biden and his people. This is done by Washington. No one has ever seen anything like it.”
At the Trump Tower event, he also vowed to appeal the jury’s verdict, saying: “We are going to appeal this scam. We are going to rely on it on many different points.”
After Trump blamed Biden and Democrats for his conviction and trial, Biden made his own comments, telling reporters at the White House: “It’s reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this is rigged , just because they don’t like the pronunciation.”
In the interview with “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Trump said he is not allowed to talk about the hush money case, citing the partial gag order imposed on Merchan earlier this year, and repeated his claims without evidence that the prosecution was part of an effort under leadership from the Biden White House to disrupt his election prospects.
“I suspect the first presidential candidate and the leader, who led corrupt Joe [Biden] Many people do not allow this, but perhaps they are doing me a great favor. Who knows?” he said. “But I’m not allowed to talk – I’m gagged.”
The order prohibited Trump from speaking about court personnel, potential jurors and potential witnesses.
During the trial, Merchan fined Trump thousands of dollars for violating the order multiple times and warned he could be jailed for violating it.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
