NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump Tuesday called for his criminal case to be moved to Staten Island, calling Manhattan a “VERY UNFAIR VENUE!” because some neighborhoods voted overwhelmingly for President Biden.
Just hours before his arraignment, Trump trashed the borough where he lived for decades as far too Democratic to give him a fair shake.
“Some areas voted 1% Republican,” he groused on his social media site.
He touted the bridge-and-ferry borough as a better spot for his fate to be determined.
“This case should be moved to nearby Staten Island,” he said. “Would be a very fair and secure location for the trial.”
Trump lashed out again at Judge Juan Merchan, branding him as “highly partisan,” a “Trump hater” and a “kangaroo court.” He derided Merchan for his handling of a separate tax fraud case in which a jury last year convicted the Trump Organization and fined the firm $1.6 million.
“He was an unfair disaster on a previous Trump related case,” the former president said. “Wouldn’t recuse, gave horrible jury instructions and impossible to deal with during the witch hunt trial.”
Trump also blasted members of Merchan’s family as being critical of him, a tactic he has previously used to attack Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and federal special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating him for suspected unrelated crimes.
Merchan is an immigrant from Colombia who came with his family to Queens as a child.
He served as a prosecutor and family court judge before joining the Manhattan bench. He has a reputation as a fair and even-tempered jurist.
Trump has spent several days attacking Merchan and Bragg, whom he accuses of being a leftist and a racist, without offering any evidence of bias.
Defendants usually avoid insulting judges presiding over their cases. Merchan could warn Trump to stop the outbursts or even impose a gag order.
It’s not unusual for defendants to complain about potentially unfair venues. But Manhattan has hosted innumerable highly publicized trials, making it unlikely Merchan would agree to move Trump’s case to another jurisdiction.
Trump is correct to say he is highly unpopular in Manhattan. He won just 9.7% of the vote in his winning 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton but scored a significantly better 12.3% in his 2020 loss to Biden.
Staten Island, on the other hand, voted heavily for Trump in both elections.
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