Mary Trump, host of The Mary Trump Show podcast and outspoken critic of her uncle, former President Donald Trump, described as “ridiculous” the argument made by prosecutors against jailing Trump, suggesting that he might be trying to provoke incarceration to rally his base.
On Sunday morning’s edition of MSNBC’s Velshi, hosted by Ali Velshi, the conversation revolved around the repeated violations of gag orders by Donald Trump in connection with the Stormy Daniels hush money case. The latest violation resulted in a $9,000 fine, with the judge warning that continued violations could lead to jail time. Despite this, Trump continued to attack those involved in the case, including Judge Juan Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Mary Trump was critical of the approach taken by prosecutors, questioning why they were reluctant to impose a more severe penalty, such as incarceration, for repeated contempt violations. She argued that financial fines do little to deter Donald Trump, given his wealth and the relatively low amounts imposed by the court.
She dismissed the theory that Trump seeks jail time to gain political advantage, emphasizing that punishment should be based on offenses, not on what the offender might desire. According to Mary Trump, Trump’s pattern of defying court orders and pushing boundaries indicates that more serious consequences are required to curb his behavior.
Mary Trump criticized the notion that fines were sufficient, noting that Trump could easily pay fines without feeling any significant impact. She suggested that Trump would continue to violate gag orders and other legal restrictions as long as he was allowed to get away with it.
ALI VELSHI: Donald Trump was fined $9,000 for violating a gag order. Not much money to him these days. He faced a second hearing about more apparent violations, and the judge warned him that if he keeps this up, a so-called incarcerated punishment or jail might be necessary.
Nothing seems to cause him to let up. He continues to attack Judge Merchan. He continues to attack Alvin Bragg. They’re of course not. They’re not protected by these orders. What do you think’s going on here?
MARY TRUMP: I think Donald is doing exactly what he’s been given permission to do and what he’s always been doing. Nothing stops him because nobody is stopping him.
It seems absolutely absurd to me that the prosecution is going out of its way to argue that there should not be an incarcerated penalty at this point, because what is that financial fine going to do? Nothing!
Because as the judge himself pointed out, that is not a deterrent to Donald Trump. He’ll he’ll pay that fine all day long because apparently the judge can’t find him more than $1,000 per offense. So the offenses will keep piling up unless and until something serious is done.
Because, first of all, it doesn’t matter if Donald Trump is angling for jail time, which is another argument the prosecution has made. That’s ridiculous, first of all.
But secondly, it doesn’t matter! You don’t fine somebody or punish somebody based on what they want, right? You punish them based on the offenses in front of you.
So, until somebody is willing to step up– and we’ve seen this even in the, civil trials, it still isn’t enough because he’s getting the money from somewhere else, to, cover the, the fraud trial, New York City or his, payments to E. Jean Carroll. Somebody has to understand that this person will continue to push the envelope for as long as he’s allowed to. We’ve seen it in our politics, and now we’re seeing it in a criminal trial.
