Over a year after he was indicted, one of Donald Trump's criminal trials has finally started. And he's making a stink over a family event it may cause him to miss.
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00:00Over a year after he was indicted, one of Donald Trump's criminal trials has finally started,
00:05and he's making a stink over a family event it may cause him to miss.
00:09The highly anticipated Manhattan hush money trial against Donald Trump finally began on April 15,
00:142024. As predicted, it was drama-filled right from the start. The first day ended without
00:20any jurors being empaneled. More than half of those called were excused because they
00:24felt they couldn't be impartial, and only nine jurors were given the chance to answer unique
00:28questions such as whether they support QAnon or the Proud Boys. The former president found
00:32himself back in court just a few weeks after the end of his civil fraud trial,
00:36which was also in New York, where he was ordered to pay a judgment of more than $450 million.
00:41Just selecting the jurors in the criminal case could take as long as two weeks. After that,
00:46it could take a month or more for the attorneys to present their evidence and the final verdict
00:50to come in. That could potentially throw a wrench into an important Trump family occasion.
00:54Barron Trump is expected to graduate from Oxbridge Academy — his private high school
00:58in Florida — on May 17. Trump's lawyers requested the court be adjourned that day
01:03so the former president could attend his son's ceremony. But Judge Juan Mershawn
01:07didn't give a direct answer. The Daily Mail quoted him as saying,
01:10"'If everything is going according to schedule, then I'm sure we'll be able to adjourn.
01:14But if we're running behind schedule, we will not be able to.'"
01:17Trump interpreted Mershawn's answer as a flat-out refusal,
01:20and he wasted no time slamming the decision to the press after court adjourned for the day.
01:24"'It looks like the judge will not let me go through the
01:28graduation of my son who's worked very, very hard.'"
01:32The former president went on to call his son a great student who was proud to be graduating
01:36and was looking forward to having his parents there for the event. He added that it looks
01:39like the judge isn't going to allow him to escape the trial for the day.
01:43"'It's a scam trial.'"
01:45Donald added that he believed the trial was a politically calculated move to thwart his
01:49presidential campaign. He said he wasn't just upset about potentially missing his son's
01:53graduation. He also noted that he won't be allowed to attend arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court over
01:58his claims of immunity in the case involving the January 6, 2021 riots at the Capitol or campaign
02:03events.
02:04"'That I'm not in Georgia or Florida or North Carolina campaigning like I should be,
02:10it's perfect for the radical left Democrats.'"
02:13If the former president does have to appear in court on May 17,
02:16it wouldn't be the first disappointment for his youngest son. Barron was seemingly iced
02:20out by his family on social media on his 18th birthday on March 20, with no apparent shout-outs
02:26online. Though there's always the chance that was less a snub than a nod toward Barron's privacy,
02:30there's also always the chance Donald could be there for his son's university commencement.
02:34In fact, according to the hosts of the PBD podcast who have spoken to Barron,
02:38the soon-to-be-grad may change his choice of college,
02:41depending on whether his dad moves back into the White House.