Donald Trump commemorated Memorial Day, a holiday meant to honour fallen military members, with a rant aimed at “human scum,” including judges presiding over several of the former president’s trials.
In a Truth Social post, Trump specifically called out Judge Arthur Engoron, who presided over Trump’s fraud trial, and Judge Juan Merchan, who is currently presiding over the Trump hush money trial. He also alluded to Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw the civil rape trial and defamation trial brought by the writer E Jean Carroll. (Carroll did not escape Trump’s Memorial Day ire, either.)
This type of ranting is fairly standard for Trump, and it’s not the first time he’s used a holiday as a way into an attack on his opponents.
On January 1, 2019, Trump wished a happy new year to “THE HATERS AND THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA!” In a message posted to Truth Social on December 25, Trump told several of his opponents to “ROT IN HELL” while wishing a “Merry Christmas to all.”
It’s not even the first time he’s marked a holiday meant to remember the dead with a tirade against his foes. In 2013, he sent “best wishes to all, even the haters and losers” on September 11 in a tweet that has since been deleted.
In the past, Trump’s attacks have led to threats toward the judges in his trials. In February, Engoron received a letter with white powder in his chambers. Prior to that, Engoron and his staff received physical threats and messages sparked by Trump’s criticism, according to court records.
Trump’s attacks have led to gag orders and bond conditions limiting what he can say in several of the cases against him. In rejecting Trump’s effort to reduce his court-ordered $83.3 million payout to Carroll, Kaplan highlighted the “malicious and unceasing attacks” Trump made on the writer, arguing they “endangered Ms. Carroll’s health and safety.”