The Trump men took to social media Monday to try to garner sympathy by lying about a ruling that hasn't happened yet over an event former Republican President Donald Trump would probably never attend.
Monday—at the first of four criminal trials Trump faces—presiding Judge Juan Merchan said he received requests from Trump's attorneys asking whether the defendant could attend Barron Trump's graduation on Friday, May 17. The event—more than four weeks away—is at Oxbridge Academy in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump and his older male progeny claimed this request was summarily denied by the judge.
But court records show Judge Merchan did not say Trump couldn't attend Barron's graduation. He stated it was too early to make a decision as it's unclear what stage the trial will be at by then.
Merchan said:
"It really depends on if we are on time and where we are in the trial."
Trump's legal team contributed to the possible scheduling conflict by repeatedly delaying the start of the trial.
Don Jr. appears to have been first to make the false claim on social media, sharing a right-wing pundit's video captioned "pure evil" around 3:30pm on Monday.
Second son Eric Trump made his misinformation post about half an hour later.
Eric posted:
"Judge Merchan is truly heartless in not letting a father attend his son’s graduation"
But by now, X users were onto the lie.
Many gave Eric a quick fact-check.
@solusnan1/X
@deeoklynam/X
Others let Eric know they wouldn't care even if it was true because his father isn't special.
They stated the Trump family patriarch should be subject to the same conditions as all criminal defendants.
@Osborne__Cox/X
While others questioned if Trump Sr. ever intended to go to the graduation before becoming a criminal defendant.
Or was he simply exploiting one of his children for his own benefit?
Some internet sleuthing uncovered Trump Sr.'s attendance record for his four older children's high school graduations.
To the best of anyone's knowledge, a judge didn't bar Trump Sr. from attending Don Jr., Ivanka, Eric or Tiffany's graduation ceremonies.
Monday evening, Trump Sr. took to Truth Social to spin his own version of the already debunked lie, posting:
"Who will explain for me, to my wonderful son, Barron, who is a GREAT Student at a fantastic School, that his Dad will likely not be allowed to attend his Graduation Ceremony, something that we have been talking about for years, because a seriously Conflicted and Corrupt New York State Judge wants me in Criminal Court on a bogus 'Biden Case' which, according to virtually all Legal Scholars and Pundits, has no merit, and should NEVER have been brought."
"This Fake Case is solely meant to attack Crooked Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME, who is seriously leading him in the Polls, for purposes of Election Interference."
"The Judge, Juan Merchan, is preventing me from proudly attending my son’s Graduation. Seems very unfair, doesn’t it?"
"But this whole event is unfair. Every one of the many Fake Cases that are perpetuated by the White House in order to help the Worst President in History, by far, get Re-Elected, are UNJUST SCAMS. We won’t let that happen, but we will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
In a case of "be careful what you wish for," many X users offered to explain the situation for Trump.
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@JoJoFromJerz
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Newly 18 as of March 20, it's unclear if Barron Trump has any public-facing social media accounts.
None have been officially identified or acknowledged so far.
Once he does, will Barron also be required to post support for his father like his older half-brothers or be exempt like his half-sister Ivanka or largely ignored like half-sister Tiffany?
His reaction to being at the center of the latest Trump propaganda remains unknown.
But his image is being heavily exploited by Trump's MAGA minions.
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Judge Merchan previously stated the trial may take up to six weeks.
As of end of day Tuesday, six jurors have already been sworn in and told to report back on Monday for the commencement of the trial. The next day of jury selection will be Thursday.
Merchan added if the trial was on schedule, he would be willing to adjourn so Trump can attend the graduation ceremony, but cannot make that decision this early in the trial.
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