Trump quotes Fox News host on prospective jurors despite gag order

NEW YORK — Former President Trump took aim at prospective jurors in his first criminal trial Wednesday, despite a gag order barring him from making public statements about them.

“’They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury,” Trump posted on Truth Social, giving credit to Fox News host Jesse Watters for the quote.

Under his gag order, Trump is barred from “making or directing others to make public statements about any prospective juror or any juror in this criminal proceeding.”

Prosecutors have already demanded Trump be fined over three previous Truth Social posts the former president made in recent days referencing witnesses. The gag order also bars him from speaking about them concerning their participation in the case.

Trump has appealed the gag order, arguing it is an unconstitutional violation of his First Amendment rights, but it remains in effect as of now.

Over the first two days of jury selection, his lawyers took aim at prospective jurors’ social media posts, claiming many showed anti-Trump bias.

The judge agreed to dismiss a few of them for cause but declined to do so for others, finding their posts did not show they would be unfair to the former president.

Jury selection is continuing Thursday, and the judge has projected opening statements will take place Monday.

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