Trump says he has no problem doing jail time to protect his First Amendment rights

The judge in former President Donald Trump's hush money case has issued multiple gag orders, and Trump keeps breaking them, citing free speech concerns.

Just recently, according to Politico, Justice Juan Merchan held the former president in contempt for the second time and threatened possible jail time should Trump keep violating his gag orders.

As far as Trump is concerned, that's a hill worth dying on.

The former president made it crystal clear that he is ready and willing to go to jail to protect his First Amendment rights, and received massive support from his supporters for issuing the statement.

"Frankly our Constitution is much more important than jail," Trump told reporters at the courthouse. "It’s not even close. I’ll do that sacrifice any day."

Donald Trump says he is willing to go to jail over his gag order:

“This judge is giving me a gag order and said you'll go to jail if you violate it. And frankly, our constitution is much more important than jail. I'll do that sacrifice any day.”pic.twitter.com/fDN5xYHy2P

— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) May 6, 2024

Trump's comments came after Merchan threatened to take the situation to the next level, which includes jail time.

Politico noted:

Justice Juan Merchan on Monday held the former president in contempt for a second time and warned that he faced imprisonment if he broke the gag order that bars him from publicly commenting on jurors, witnesses and others involved in the case.

But the former president has already violated this order and received $10,000 worth of fines since the trial began, $1,000 for each violation.

Merchan's exact words were, "It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent. Going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction."

The justice went on to say that he doesn't want to take that route given Trump's status as a past president and possibly the next president.

Notably, the gag orders and contempt charges Trump faces have only served to bolster his campaign as he draws deeper support from his base, and from groups he traditionally couldn't reach.

Trump has raised untold millions off of what many believe to be a constant stream of unfair legal attacks and political "lawfare."

While some Trump critics and Democrats would presumably love the idea of seeing Trump behind bars for a few days, any halfway intelligent person on that side would understand that it's the very LAST thing that Democrats need, as it would serve as a rallying cry for Trump like never before.

Justice Merchan is likely well aware of that and it's probably the real reason why he's hesitated to take action already. Only time will tell.