At the tail end of a three-part Truth Social rant on Saturday, Donald Trump raged at being placed under a gag order by Judge Juan Merchan tied to the upcoming trial related to the former president paying hush money to an adult film star, with the Trump saying he would gladly go to jail rather than have his right to speak abridged.
To make his point, Trump compared him to human rights icon Nelson Mandela who spent 27 years in jail for leading the African National Conference (ANC) for opposing the apartheid policies in South Africa.
In a bit of a stretch, the former president apparently sees a bit of himself in the career arc of Mandela who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his work.
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As part of his furious rant on Truth Social, he wrote: "Now, we have Merchan, who is not allowing me to talk, thereby violating the Law and the Constitution, all at once. It is so bad what he is trying to get away with - How was he even chosen for this case??? I heard he fought like hell to get it, and all of the rest of them also! If this Partisan Hack wants to put me in the 'clink' for speaking the open and obvious TRUTH, I will gladly become a Modern Day Nelson Mandela - It will be my GREAT HONOR."
Critics of Trump were quick to jump on his offer and honor his wishes, with X commenter writing, "Give him what he wants."
That was the general response by a majority of X users as you can see below after Politico's Kyle Cheney reported, "Trump says on Truth Social that it would me 'my great honor' to go to jail for violating Judge Merchan’s gag order and that it will make him a 'modern day Nelson Mandela.'"
Harris Peskin replied, "It would be my great honor to host a Trump is in jail party," with Exile Bob adding, "I would like to attend this party."
"Great idea. Let’s go!!" wrote an approving Dorene Brown to which X user Chidi added, "May his wish be granted."
Wobbly Genius observed, "Ah, Yes… Nelson Mandela, who was so famously prosecuted for falsifying business records to pay off a porn star."
"Cool. I will wait outside when he’s released 27 years later," wrote another.
In a longer post that detailed Mandela's history, Chris Swart concluded, "In the grand scheme of things, Trump eyeing jail time like it’s a badge of honour is akin to a toddler throwing a tantrum in a supermarket and then expecting to be carried out on the shoulders of cheering onlookers. The real 'honor' here might be in recognizing the vast chasm between facing consequences for one’s actions and the profound sacrifices made by true leaders like Mandela. But hey, in the world of Trumpian logic, why let reality spoil a perfectly good delusion?"
"Can he be held at Rikers? And no internet," asked Chris.
Fan of Walt was skeptical but conceded, "One way to find out," with an agreeable Chica adding, "I say, let’s find out!"
"Sometimes you gotta call the bluff,"suggested Bob Anderson.
A resigned Nancy Hughes was agreeable, writing, "Ok whatever it takes."
X user Debbie Margerum said it all with a meme: