Donald Trump appeared in court on Monday, April 15, but people immediately noticed that his family, including his wife, Melania Trump, were nowhere in sight.
"I have rarely seen a defendant facing trial alone with no family, at least one person, in the courtroom for him," a former federal prosecutor and legal analyst Joyce Vance wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "It's a sad commentary for a former president with four grown children & a wife, all of whom seem to have deserted him in the moment."
Other people weighed in on the ex-president, 77, being left on his own. One person wrote, "Considering the number of people who have been found guilty in Trump's sphere and the subject matter of this particular trial, it's not all that surprising. It has a certain ick factor," while another added, "And let's not forget the irony of a man who spent his entire presidency attacking and undermining the justice system now having to face the consequences of his own alleged crimes. It's like a Greek tragedy, if Greek tragedies were written by a reality TV producer with a spray tan."
Meanwhile, some users pushed back on the accusations that Trump's family doesn't support him. One person called the haters "disgusting hypocrites," while another said, "We Love and support you 'Legitimate' President Trump."
"Only 6 months till Renovation America. Clean House Deep and Wide, and put them in Prison! TRUMP 2024," a third person wrote.
Though Trump's eldest sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., were not there with him in court, they did show their support on social media.
"Judge Merchan is truly heartless in not letting a father attend his son’s graduation," Eric wrote on X, referring to how Donald will have to skip his youngest son's graduation due to the trial. (The judge actually didn't give a definitive answer, stating: “It really depends on if we are on time and where we are in the trial.")
For his part, Donald Trump Jr. retweeted a post on X from Jack Posobiec — a former Navy intelligence officer and a political activist — that read: "BREAKING: JUDGE MERCHAN SAYS TRUMP WILL BE ARRESTED IF HE MISSES ANY DAY OF THE TRIAL, EVEN FOR BARRON'S GRADUATION."
"Pure evil," Donald Trump Jr. replied.
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Before walking into the courtroom on day two on April 16, he went off about how the trial is not helping his campaign.
“This is a trial that should have never been brought. It’s a trial that is being looked upon and looked at all over the world. The court that they’re looking at and analyzing it. Every legal pundit, every legal scholar said this trial is a disgrace. We have a Trump-hating judge. We have a judge who shouldn’t be on this case. He’s totally conflicted. But this is a trial that should never happened or should have been thrown out a long time ago,” began Donald.
“You look at Jonathan Turley, Andy McCarthy, all great legal scholars,” said Trump, referring to two Fox News legal analysts. “There’s that one that we’ve been able to find that said this should be a trial.”