Why were they ever considered? Judge dismisses Trump jurors after posting 'lock ... trends now
A social media post about Donald Trump saying 'lock him up' led to one potential juror being struck from the Manhattan case on Tuesday.
Another who reposted an AI video calling the president 'dumb as f***' was also mentioned as another man was told to go home.
The pair were among a string of dismissals in the Manhattan hush money trial that ended the second day with a surprising seven jurors.
But the judge allowed a woman who joked about Republicans going to prison despite a challenge from Trump's lawyers.
Judge Juan Merchan moved quickly through the prospective candidates and managed to get more than half way to filling a panel of 12.
A social media post about Donald Trump saying 'lock him up' led to one potential juror being struck from the Manhattan case
But a white, middle-aged man was told he was no longer needed when Trump's legal team brought up his past online activity.
Merchan read the post to the court that said, in part: 'Good news!! Trump lost his court battle on his unlawful travel ban!!!'
'Get him out, and lock him up.'
A male juror who was in seat six was dismissed by Judge Merchan over a video he posted titled ‘Dumb as f***’ about Trump and other posts.
The pair were among a string of dismissals in the Manhattan hush money trial that ended the second day with a surprising seven jurors
Judge Juan Merchan moved quickly through the prospective candidates and managed to get more than half way to filling a panel of 12
One of them was an appeal to raise money to beat him in the 2024 election.
Blanche said that the video was a ‘parody video that mocks President Trump the whole time’.
The juror was called in and questioned and said he thought the video ‘would be funny’.
Judge Merchan said that he wouldn’t have a problem with the post but in conjunction with his (the juror’s demand here I’m having a hard time crediting his response’.
The judge rejected another challenge from Trump to kick off a woman who was in seat 16.
A court sketch shows Trump looking on during the second day of jury selection on Tuesday
Judge Merchan read out copies of the posts, telling the court: ‘I apologize for the attempt at humor’
One photo depicted young men, Trump and the White House.
The caption read: ‘Trump invites Thai boys to White House. Boys request to return to the cave’.
Another photo had the caption: ‘Republicans projected to pick up 70 seats in prison’.
The August 8th 2018 post was a mocked up news report saying Republicans were ‘running for prison’
Judge Merchan said that the posts were ‘satire’ and that they didn’t ‘express a desire to see your client locked up or beheaded’.
‘The question is can they be fair and impartial: your challenge is denied’, the judge told Blanche.
'This is a person who has expressed the desire…that Mr. Trump be locked up,' Merchan said, adding that if Trump is found guilty he faces a potential jail sentence.
Judge tears into Trump for 'intimidating' jury after warning he could be jailed for disruptive behavior as juror is dismissed for posting 'lock him up' on social media
In a tense moment in court, Judge Juan Merchan told Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche to 'speak to him' about his
