In the Spotlight
Frank Bergman
October 17, 2023
From Slay News
President Donald Trump has declared that he’s “willing to go jail” as he vowed to break a federal judge’s gag order against him.
During a rally in Iowa, Trump told hundreds of supporters in suburban Des Moines that he will never be silenced.
Trump held the rally just 91 days before Iowa Republicans are due to hold the first-in-the-nation 2024 presidential caucuses.
Earlier on Monday, Obama-appointed federal District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan slapped a gag order on Trump.
The order bars the 45th president from attacking or criticizing witnesses, prosecutors, and court staff involved in his Washington, D.C. criminal case.
“Crooked Joe Biden and his radical left Democrats … have weaponized law enforcement to arrest their leading political opponent, me,” Trump said in response during the Iowa rally.
In her ruling, Judge Chutkan argued that her case is more important than Trump’s free speech rights.
“First Amendment protections yield to the administration of justice and to the protection of witnesses,” Chutkan said while issuing the gag order.
“His presidential candidacy does not give him carte blanche to vilify … public servants who are simply doing their job.”
Chutkan has been criticized by conservatives for hitting demonstrators and rioters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with excessive punishments.
Trump slammed the gag order as “totally unconstitutional.”
Many in the crowd seemed to agree, based on the boos at the mention of the judge’s action.
“You know what a gag order is?” he asked the crowd.
“You can’t speak badly about your opponent.”
“But what they don’t understand is that I am willing to go to jail if that’s what it takes for our country to become a democracy again,” Trump said to a roar of applause.
Trump is facing four separate indictments in the politically motivated cases against him.
None of which has hurt him in the polls.
According to the RealClearPolitics average of national polls, Trump is crushing his GOP presidential rivals by 45 percentage points or more.
And he’s leading Biden in several polls, including a Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll showing Trump ahead of the Democrat in five of six swing states.
Trump joked that he’s been indicted more times than Al Capone.
He’s not wrong, however.
He reiterated his support for Israel in its war to hunt down and destroy terrorist network Hamas.
Trump said his administration “stood up for Israel and we stood up for Judea-Christian values.”
He noted the Abraham Accords, negotiated by his administration, aimed at building peace in the Middle East, and his administration’s commitment to moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, fulfilling a promise made by several of his predecessors.
He also slammed Democrat President Joe Biden as the “incompetent fool” in the White House for going soft on terrorist sponsor Iran.
The administration has been sharply criticized by Republicans for a deal that unfroze $6 billion in Iranian oil money in exchange for the return of five U.S. prisoners.
And now, Trump asserted, Iran is close to building a nuclear weapon because Biden pushed the U.S. back into the Iran nuclear deal.
“We are closer we have been to World War III than we’ve ever been,” Trump warned.
Trump repeatedly departed from the teleprompter script over the course of his hour-plus speech.
He stayed on task, however, in delivering a long line of popular promises.
The 45th president pledged that he plans to block taxpayer funds from going to schools with vaccine and mask mandates and vowed to protect the unborn and safeguard the First and Second Amendments.
“Never forget my enemies want to take away my freedom because I won’t let them take away your freedoms,” Trump said to applause.
“It’s very simple.
“They want to silence me because I will never let them silence you.”
WATCH:
Trump took the rally stage on Monday with a fresh endorsement.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, who has spent her first term in office suing the Biden administration, gave Trump his full support.
READ MORE – Trump: ‘Incompetent Fool’ Biden ‘Will Drop to His Knees & Beg Iran for Mercy’
