Members of Trump’s Family React to His Arraignment

Former President Donald Trump (R) talks with son Eric Trump (L) during an event at Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach, Florida, on April 4, 2023. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Family members of Donald Trump have shared their thoughts on the former president’s historic arraignment in New York City on April 4 in which he became the first U.S. president ever to face criminal charges.

Trump, who is seeking a second term in the White House in 2024, was charged on Tuesday with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into allegations that Trump orchestrated hush-money payments to adult entertainment actress Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign.

New York prosecutors allege that Trump directed his former personal attorney Michael Cohen to pay Daniels in an effort to buy her silence over an alleged affair and repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal the payments—a violation of state and federal election laws.

Every count is a felony and each one carries a one- to four-year sentence. The 76-year-old, who has denied wrongdoing and the alleged affair with Daniels, pleaded not guilty to all counts on Tuesday.

Family members of Trump took to social media throughout Tuesday’s historic arraignment to share their thoughts, with Trump’s son Eric taking aim at Democrat Bragg and the costly nature of his father’s case.

‘Political Charade’

In one post on Twitter, Eric Trump wrote: “Alvin Bragg has shut down the entire city, called up 38,000 NYPD police officers, closed down the FDR Drive, and is spending an estimated $200 million of city funds, all for a $130,000 NDA. I never thought I would see this level of corruption in the United States.”

He posted later with the hashtag “FreeTrump.”

Separately, in an interview with Fox News, Eric Trump accused the Manhattan district attorney of putting New Yorkers’ lives at risk with his indictment of Trump.

“How many people in New York died because the entire NYPD wasn’t doing their job because they were dealing with Alvin Bragg’s political charade?” he asked. “People have to put this into perspective. They’re doing this to persecute a guy that’s winning the Republican nomination by 35 points. It’s not even close. They want to take him out of the race,” he added.

Bragg has repeatedly defended the case against Trump, and claimed on Tuesday that the former president and others had employed a “catch and kill” scheme to “identify, purchase, and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects.”

“Trump then went to great lengths to hide this conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws,” Bragg said. “Manhattan is home to the country’s most significant business market. We cannot allow New York businesses to manipulate their records to cover up criminal conduct.”

Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle attend former President Donald Trump's press conference following his court appearance over an alleged hush-money payment, at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on April 4, 2023. Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

Elsewhere, Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. blasted the decision to arraign his father as politically motivated and urged people to sign a petition to “defend the Constitution and stop the political persecution” of Trump and the “other political persecutions this opens the door for in the future!!!”

However, Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, also took to Twitter to defend Bragg, writing that the evidence against Trump “is very strong.”

“The idea that D.A. Alvin Bragg would bring a weak case against a man who was not only the leader of the free world but who is a career criminal who’s been walking around in a suit of armor made out of impunity since 1973 is beyond absurd,” she wrote, before referencing a recording of Trump talking to Cohen about the payments to Daniels.

“Donald has also painted himself into a corner when it comes to Michael Cohen’s testimony because the recording corroborates that intent. Plus, there are 34 counts altogether—this is deadly serious,” she wrote.

‘An Insult to Our Country’

Additionally, Trump Jr. shared a Breitbart article on Twitter reporting that the daughter of the judge overseeing Trump’s case, Judge Juan Merchan, previously worked on the Biden–Harris campaign back in 2019. The report cited the judge’s daughter Loren Merchan’s LinkedIn profile.

“Seems relevant… yet another connection in this hand-picked Democrat show trial. The BS never ends folks,” Trump Jr. wrote.

Biden has not officially announced he is seeking re-election in 2024, meaning there is currently no Biden-Harris campaign entity.

Trump’s daughter Tiffany as well as his sons Eric and Donald Jr attended the high-profile arraignment on Tuesday. However, former First Lady Melania Trump and daughter Ivanka Trump have not yet spoken publicly about his appearance.

After issuing his “not guilty” plea on Tuesday, Trump, who is the frontrunner in the race for the Republican nomination in 2024, swiftly left New York and flew back to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, and from there he thanked his family, friends, and supporters.

During that speech, Trump again insisted he is innocent and that the charges against him should never have been brought.

“You want to get President Trump at any cost,” Trump said. “As it turns out, everyone who has looked at this case … says there is no crime and it should never have been brought. Never have been brought.”

“It’s an insult to our country,” he added, “and the world is already laughing at us.”