After being fined $5,000 for violating a judge’s gag order imposed as part of his civil trial in New York, former President Donald Trump posted an image of himself sitting in court next to Jesus Christ.
The former president posted the image on Instagram and Truth Social on Friday.
Trump had initially shared the sketch on Truth Social in early October. It was first posted on X by user Dom Lucre, according to the New York Post.
“This is the most accurate court sketch of all time. Because nobody could have made it this far alone,” Lucre wrote in the caption.
This is the most accurate court sketch of all time. Because nobody could have made it this far alone. pic.twitter.com/vH1KgFk14q
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) October 2, 2023
When Trump was arraigned in April on a charge of falsifying business records, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia compared what was taking place to the persecution of Jesus, according to The Associated Press.
“Jesus was arrested and murdered by the Roman government,” she said then.
“There have been many people throughout history that have been arrested and persecuted by radical, corrupt governments, and it’s beginning today in New York City.”
Judge Arthur Engoron fined Trump over a social media post calling Engoron’s clerk, Allison Greenfield, the girlfriend of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The post was deleted from Truth Social after Engoron ordered it to be taken down, but it remained on Trump’s campaign website for two weeks.
Engoron said the failure to remove the post from the website appeared inadvertent, but he would not let it slide.
“In this current overheated political climate, incendiary untruths can, and in some cases already have, led to serious physical harm, and worse,” he wrote.
“Make no mistake: future violations, whether intentional or unintentional, will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions,” the judge said. Those sanctions could include higher fines or jail time.
On Saturday, Trump shared a post on Truth Social from another user calling Ergoron a “lunatic.”
Engoron is presiding over the trial in which New York State Attorney General Letitia James is trying to prove Trump inflated his worth and the worth of his companies and properties to deceive lenders.
The courtroom has been heated, as seen in an exchange between Trump lawyer Chris Kise and prosecutor Colleen Faherty.
“Excuse me, be more respectful,” Faherty was overheard telling Kise on Thursday, according to the New York Post.
“No,” Kise replied.
via westernjournal