Former President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized the judge in his ongoing hush-money trial while arguing for presidential immunity during an early morning visit to a New York construction site.
“We have a big case today but the judge isn’t allowing me to go. We have a big case today in the Supreme Court on presidential immunity,” Trump told reporters. “A president has to have immunity, otherwise you just have a ceremonial president.”
Trump made his comments at a drop-by visit at a midtown Manhattan construction site ahead of his court appearance on Thursday and the Supreme Court’s hearing in Washington on presidential immunity.
The Supreme Court’s ruling, in that case, could determine whether or not a former president is immune from prosecution for his official actions while president, and the ruling could impact whether or not Trump goes to trial before voters head to the polls in November on charges he tried to subvert the 2020 election.
At the construction site for the new J.P. Morgan headquarters in midtown, a crowd of Teamsters and union workers chanted “we want Trump!” as the former president shook hands and signed red MAGA caps.
“We built a lot of great buildings in this city with these people,” Trump, a former real estate developer, said. “They’re very talented people, very few people can do what they do. We used to do three floors a week in concrete.”
Trump said he had built “a lot of buildings with Teamsters.” The Teamsters have not yet endorsed either President Joe Biden or Trump, and plan to endorse after the conventions this summer. Meanwhile yesterday Biden landed a major endorsement from North America’s Building Trades Unions.
Trump’s ongoing criminal trial has kept the former president in New York for much of the week while he attends the proceedings. But Trump has also continued to hold events throughout the city when court isn’t in session, including visiting a bodega in Harlem last week where he laced into the judge overseeing his trial and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is prosecuting him.
Trump is under a gag order that prohibits him from criticizing witnesses, jurors or others involved in his New York case — including Justice Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the case. Prosecutors argued that Trump violated the gag order 10 times and Merchan held a contempt hearing this week on the issue.
“They’ve taken my constitutional right away with a gag order. That’s all it is. It’s election interference,” Trump told reporters Thursday morning.
Trump also used the stop to campaign, telling the New York crowd — who broke out into chants of “Trump, Trump, Trump,” and “U.S.A., U.S.A.” — “We’re way ahead in the polls against Biden.” Trump claimed that he will be “making a play for New York — we have a good chance of winning.” Trump lost by over 20 points to Biden in New York in 2020.
Trump next week is also scheduled to travel to Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday, a day when his criminal case isn’t regularly in session. Last week, he was set to hold a rally in North Carolina but canceled the event due to weather.