The Internet Braces for Donald Trump's Hush Money Trial as Judge Denies Third Delay Request

Judge Juan Merchan has once again rejected former President Donald Trump's plea for postponement in his criminal hush money trial, slated to commence in New York on Monday, according to ABC News. Merchan's Friday order dismissed Trump's legal team's motion, citing overwhelming pretrial publicity as grounds for delay. This ruling doesn’t come as a surprise, being the latest in a string of judicial refusals this week, rejecting Trump's eleventh-hour bids to halt his first criminal trial. As the legal drama unfolds, the online world braces itself for the impending hush money trial.

One person embedded a laughing video on his X post and wrote, "New York appeals court rejects Donald Trump's third request to delay Monday's hush money trial." Another person wrote, "Donald Trump’s “Hush money” trial starts in NY on Monday. This is the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president. Happy Friday." A third person wrote, "How long before Donald Trump locks himself in a bathroom at Mar-A-Lago & threatens not to come out until the mean people leave him alone? Appeals court rejects Donald Trump’s latest attempt to delay April 15 hush money criminal trial."

A fourth person said, "Third time's a charm, huh? Looks like Trump's hush money trial is moving full steam ahead! Popcorn ready? TrumpInTrouble." Additionally, several others have written about how Trump isn't getting any luckier. A fifth user wrote, "Enough of the delays!! Get on with the trials. No other criminal has ever been afforded the kind of latitude the courts have given this man." 

Amidst it all, Trump's legal team submitted their request to lodge the motion during a pretrial hearing the previous month. Despite Merchan's prior dismissal of a comparable filing, he nonetheless granted permission for the motion to be filed. Facing 34 charges of falsifying business records related to hush money payments made to an adult film star before the 2016 election, Trump maintains his innocence and refutes any involvement in the alleged affair from a decade ago, according to CNN.

The trial, with jury selection starting Monday, marks a pivotal moment. Just three days ahead of the trial, Trump's legal team petitioned Merchan to revise his jury selection strategy. They wanted to relocate the trial from Manhattan to a county where, they argued, the pool of potential jurors would be less predisposed against Trump.

On Friday, Merchan wrote, “The remedy that Defendant seeks is an indefinite adjournment. This is not tenable." He added, “The situation Defendant finds himself in now is not new to him and at least in part, of his own doing.” Merchan expressed confidence that any worries about a potential juror's awareness of case-related news could be addressed through a thorough jury selection procedure. He wrote, "Defendant appears to take the position that his situation and this case are unique and that the pre-trial publicity will never subside. However, this view does not align with reality."