President Donald Trump is being urged to defy the Democrat judge overseeing his “hush money” case in New York.
New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan told Trump he would face arrest if he did not attend daily court sessions during the trial.
However, Trump told the judge that attending court every day would mean that he would miss his son Barron’s graduation.
Fox Nation host Piers Morgan is calling on Trump to challenge the judge’s warning by attending his son’s graduation, despite the risk of arrest.
“Donald Trump should go to his son’s graduation … go to the graduation,” Morgan said on the Fox News show “The Five.”
“Honestly, if you’re watching, President Trump, just go to the graduation.
“Every parent in America, whether they like you or hate you, will go, ‘Yeah, I’d have done that, too.'”
Barron Trump is graduating later this month from Oxbridge Academy in Palm Beach, Florida.
However, his father is scheduled to appear before Merchan, a Biden donor, in a New York courtroom 1,200 miles away.
Morgan, who notably interviewed Trump for Fox Nation in a sometimes tense back-and-forth in 2022, called the case one of “the most petty, self-harming acts of political suicide I’ve ever witnessed.”
He also called Merchan’s case, brought by Manhattan’s Democrat District Attorney Alvin Bragg, “utterly ridiculous.”
Judge Jeanine Pirro held court in neighboring Westchester County and served as its Republican prosecutor for many years.
She said Merchan can indeed issue a bench warrant for Trump and have him arrested.
However, she left open whether being arrested would be politically advantageous, as Morgan suggested.
Morgan went on to call the idea that a former president would be taken to court with a potential 10-year felony sentence over “potentially, a one-night-stand with a porn star” completely nonsensical.
“Have you lost your minds, America?” the British TV host asked.
“What a demeaning way to treat a former president.
“Secondly, if you’re on the left, why would you think this would possibly work?
“Why would you not think that what you’re doing here is going to almost guarantee Donald Trump wins the next election?” he asked.
For his part, Trump said Merchan’s decision that he cannot attend Barron’s graduation or Supreme Court arguments for another case he is involved in are collectively a “perfect” ploy to help the “radical-left Democrats.”
“That’s exactly what they want,” he said in remarks following his day in Manhattan court.
“This is about election interference, that’s all.”
Fox News host Jesse Watters added that former President Bill Clinton also made headlines for his 1998 legal settlement with former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones.
However, Clinton did not receive the same scrutiny Trump has.
Jones received an $850,000 payment over her 1991 claim Clinton – then the state’s governor – harassed her inside a Little Rock hotel.
Jones – one of several Clinton accusers Trump invited as guests to a Missouri debate against the Democrat’s wife Hillary during the 2016 race – claimed Clinton exposed himself and made sexual advances.
At the time of the settlement, Clinton’s attorney Robert Bennett said Jones’s claim was meritless.
Clinton White House Press Secretary Michael McCurry said at the time that Clinton was “pleased that he has received the vindication he has long awaited.”
“This is a personal expense,” Watters said of Trump’s alleged “hush money” payment on “The Five,” before citing Jones’s case.
“[Clinton] used private money because it was a private matter,” he said.
“This is the most corrupt prosecution…
“And the jury pool is 90% Democrat.
“And the star witness is a stone-cold felon and a liar,” he said, referring to former Trump “fixer” Michael Cohen, a known perjurer.
“[T]he jury pool is basically like the O.J. [Simpson] jury pool.
“You’re going to have people trying to wiggle into that jury and send a message, just like they did with ‘The Juice.’”
Watters appeared to agree with Morgan’s sentiment regarding the potential threat of arrest for Trump.
“If this judge says he can’t attend Barron’s high school graduation, [Trump] wins in a landslide,” he said.
“He’ll win California if that happens.”
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