Former President Donald Trump spoke to reporters on Monday, following the 4:30 p.m. ET conclusion of his historic criminal case. The Republican candidate for the White House, who is seeking to return in 2024 to his position, was upset that Judge Juan Merchan refused to allow him to be at Barron Trump’s high school graduation.
Trump said:
You know that my son will be graduating high school. It looks like the judge won’t let me attend the graduation ceremony of my son, who has worked extremely hard. He’s a good student, and I am very proud that he performed so well. And, I had been looking forward for years to having his graduation with his mother and father there. It looks like the judge isn’t going to allow me to escape this scam, it’s a scam trial.
Barron, 18, is the only son of Melania Trump, the former First Lady. Like his mother, Barron keeps a low profile in the media. After his father’s presidency ended in 2021, he transferred to the Oxbridge Academy, located in Palm Beach, Florida. He will graduate on May 17 with the class of 2024.
On Monday morning as the trial started, Merchan announced that Trump’s lawyers had requested for him to miss the May 17 trial so that he could attend the graduation ceremony of his son. Merchan said he couldn’t rule on the request until the trial was running on schedule.
The jury selection process is expected to take up to two weeks. The entire trial should last six to eight weeks. Trump will be present in court each day during the trial.
Trump made remarks about the trial schedule, which prevented him from attending the arguments scheduled for next week in the United States Supreme Court regarding presidential immunity.
Trump said:
As you may know, on Thursday we will be before the United States Supreme Court for a major hearing on immunity. This is something we have been looking forward to for a long, long time. The judge isn’t going to let us go there, because he has a conflicted mind.
He will not allow me to go to D.C. for half a day and appear before the United States Supreme Court because he believes he is superior to the Supreme Court, I suppose. We have a serious problem with the judge.
In closing his remarks, Trump said that he was also prevented from spending crucial time on the campaign trails and claimed the case was motivated by election meddling.
Trump said:
The radical left Democrats want this. They don’t care if I can’t attend my son’s graduation or if I can’t campaign in Georgia, Florida, or North Carolina like I should. It’s all about interference in elections.
On the first day of the trial, nine jurors were interrogated. A new panel will be questioned again on Tuesday.
