Former President Donald Trump recently issued a scathing rebuke of U.S. District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan for refusing to delay a trial date in a defamation case brought forth by author E. Jean Carroll against the former president. Trump had requested a pause in the trial to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral.
Meet Donald Trump’s accuser E. Jean Carroll:
She lives in a house with mice in the middle of the forest called “The Mouse House”
Has bizarre names for her dogs
Paints trees & rocks in the forest
This woman is unstable and people treat her as “credible”pic.twitter.com/dDPWRPESaY
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 17, 2024
On Truth Social, the former president blasted the judge, accusing him of suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
“Now, because I want to be at this Witch Hunt 100% of the time and watch what is going on, my attorneys asked the Judge for a one-day delay so that I can attend the funeral of my beloved mother-in-law, with my wife and my entire family, tomorrow in Palm Beach, Florida,” Trump wrote.
The former president later released a video regarding the judge’s refusal to delay the trial date, saying that a “trial like this is not an emergency in terms of timing.” He said that his lawyers felt such a move on the judge’s part would be “demeaning” because it would force him to miss his mother-in-law’s funeral.
Trump called Kaplan “a nasty judge” and an individual who views the former president negatively.
“That’s a nasty man,” Trump said, referring to the judge. “He’s a nasty judge. He’s a Trump-hating guy, and it’s obvious to everybody in the court. It’s a disgrace frankly, what’s happening is a disgrace. Happens to be a Clinton appointment, but I’m sure that has nothing to do with it.”
Before the trial began, Trump said he was unaware of Carroll and the accusations against him. The former president has called the legal efforts against him “a totally rigged deal,” claiming that the left is trying to interfere in the 2024 presidential election by repeatedly prosecuting him in court.
Such controversy between Trump and Kaplan comes after the former president challenged the judge to kick him out of the courtroom following a testy exchange.
The former president has been indicted four times by radical Democratic judges in several states. Among the charges he faces include allegedly falsifying business records, hoarding classified documents, and trying to “overturn” the 2020 presidential election.