Responding Tuesday to the new gag order against former President Donald Trump in his federal elections interference case, “Morning Joe” cohosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski pushed back on a panelist’s concerns that holding the embattled politician to standard account is “unique” and will be “difficult.”
“What would happen in a case that you were trying, any case that you were trying, where a criminal defendant was told ‘don’t go out and call us thugs,’ and then he goes out on the court steps, holds a press conference and the defendant calls them thugs?” Scarborough asked, pressing guest, former U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg. “I don’t know where you practice — I can tell you where I practice, the judge would call him back in, hold him in the contempt of court and throw him in jail.”
Later in the conversation, Scarborough indicated that such a drastic response could instead come as a three-strikes-and-you’re-out caveat after a pair of sanctions, but emphasized that at that point, “I think every federal judge would throw him in jail, regardless of who he is.”
“Or put an ankle bracelet on him and put him in Mar-a-Lago with his security detail,” Brzezinski added.
Said security detail was the main sticking point for Rosenberg, who echoed much of the “Morning Joe” hosts’ thoughts. He feared there was the issue of impracticality.
In the instance that Trump “inevitably” violates the gag order, as issued by U.S. District Judge Tonya Chutkan, Rosenberg said it still introduces “a host of technical difficulties because he has a secret service detail and he’s running for president.”
“This is unique. She sees him ask a defendant running for president. He thinks of himself as someone running for president who also happens to be a defendant. They’re coming at it from very different directions,” Rosenberg explained. “And so when he inevitably violates her order in some way, I think the hard question is: What does she do next? And I don’t really know the answer. It’s hard to imagine putting Mr. Trump, while he’s a candidate running for president, in prison.”
On Monday, Judge Chutkan issued the partial gag order against the former president in his ongoing federal elections interference case, determining that he cannot make disparaging comments about prosecutors or potential witnesses. There are no restrictions, however, on statements against Washington, D.C. or criticisms of the government or departments of justice.
“Mr. Trump can certainly claim he’s being unfairly prosecuted,” she said of the order, “but I cannot imagine any other criminal case in which a defendant is permitted to call the prosecutor ‘deranged’ or ‘a thug,’ and I will not permit it here simply because the defendant is running a political campaign.”
Watch the full “Morning Joe” segment in the video above.
