Former President Donald Trump said on Monday that he is willing to go to jail if that’s what it takes for America “to become a democracy again.”
Trump was reacting to a gag order issued on Monday by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who presides over the case of Trump’s alleged attempt to overthrow the federal government on Jan. 6, 2021.
According to The Daily Wire, Chutkan, appointed to the bench by former President Barack Obama, directed Trump to not engage in a “pre-trial smear campaign” by denouncing government staff, their families, and witnesses.
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In her ruling, Chutkan claimed Trump’s First Amendment rights “yield to the administration of justice and to the protection of witnesses.” She added that his current bid for the White House “does not give him carte blanche to vilify … public servants who are simply doing their job.”
Yet the judge allowed Trump to criticize the Biden administration, including the Justice Department, as well as the heavily Democratic District of Columbia, where a trial would be held.
Trump in response vowed to appeal the order, calling it an “absolute abomination.”
He then ratcheted up the rhetoric, telling a crowd at an Iowa campaign stop that he is ready to be jailed in defense of his right to criticize the politics motivating the Biden administration’s case against him.
“They’re getting beaten very badly by me in the polls. They think the only way they can catch me is to stop me from speaking, they want to take away my voice,” said Trump, according to the website Trending Politics.
“Do you know what a gag order is? You can’t speak badly about your opponent,” he added. “But this is weaponry all being done because Joe Biden is losing the election. And losing very, very badly to all of us in the polls.”
“But what they don’t understand,” he continued, “is that I am willing to go to jail if that’s what it takes for our country to win and to become a democracy again.”
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As the Tampa Free Press has reported, recent polls show Trump neck and neck with Biden nationally, although a Washington Post survey had Trump 10- points ahead of his Democratic rival.
Yet recent polls also showed Trump is beating Biden in the key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
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