No Proof Potential Juror's Tweet Cursing Trump Was Read Aloud at His Trial

In April 2024, as jury selection began for former U.S. President Donald Trump’s hush-money trial, social media posts alleged a judge read aloud in court an insulting X post from a potential juror who called Trump a “treasonous orange s**gibbon,” among other insults. Trump was on trial for 34 felony counts of first-degree falsifying business records related to alleged hush-money payments made in 2016.

The posts in question shared what appeared to be a screenshot or a meme, in which the judge asked a potential juror about making an insulting post on social media about the former president:

This truly happened:

Porn star hush money NYC jury selection Voir Dire [referring to the process through which potential jurors from a panel are questioned by either the judge or a lawyer to determine their suitability for jury service]:

“It says here that you tweeted, ahem, and I quote ‘f*** that treasonous orange sh**gibbon and the dead ferret on his head’ – is that accurate? 

“The tweet speaks for itself, your honor”

(Facebook user “The Other 98%”)

(Reddit user @Rhino910)

The earliest post we found on X using this language went up on April 16, 2024, and no reporting from before or on that date corroborates that such a reading took place in front of Trump in court. We were unable to find any verified reporting from news organizations that stated such a tweet had been read aloud during court proceedings. Were such a tweet indeed on the record, it would have been in the news. We thus rate this claim as “False.”

We looked for earlier examples of the phrase “treasonous orange s***gibbon” being used on X, and found an example on April 16, 2024. This post appeared to be joking about the jury selection process, stating: 

Please pick me for jury selection on the J6 case. Voir Dire will be so much fun! 

“It says here that you tweeted, ahem, and I quote ‘f*** that treasonous orange sh**gibbon and the dead ferret on his head’ – is that accurate? 

“The tweet speaks for itself, your honor”

 

(X user @Angry_Staffer)

We were unable to find earlier examples of the phrase on the social media site. Given that it was posted on April 16, 2024, any potential reading of the so-called “tweet” would have occurred on April 15 or April 16, the first two days of jury selection. 

We looked through live news coverage of the jury-selection process, beginning on April 15, 2024. During that first day, per news coverage, prospective jurors were questioned about their opinions on Trump, social media history, and backgrounds. Reporting by NPR, The Associated Press (AP), and The New York Times on the first day did not identify any such tweets being read out. 

The New York Times reporter in the court also noted jury responses, none of them saying anything like, “The tweet speaks for itself, your honor”:

Many of the prospective jurors have been answering the yes or no questions simply and without elaboration. But a few have offered some further detail, such as a man who identified himself as a bookseller and said that “no one is above the law,” including former presidents. Another prospective juror, a nurse, said that she received Trump’s emails several years ago but that she “unsubscribed.”

On April 16, 2024, prospective jurors were questioned about their social media history. According to CNN, five jurors were removed after Trump’s lawyers pointed to their alleged anti-Trump comments online. One social media post from 2017 said, “Get him out and lock him up!” referring to Trump. Trump’s lawyers highlighted three apparently satirical social media posts in an attempt to dismiss possible jurors, which the judge denied, saying, according to AP: “None of them expresses the sentiment we saw in some others, a desire to see your client locked up or beheaded or something or other of that nature.” 

According to Politico, one prospective juror’s husband had shared a post suggesting that the comic book characters “The Avengers” unite against Trump. The judge refused Trump’s lawyers’ efforts to dismiss this juror.

According to Washington Post coverage of the selection process, jurors aired their criticisms of Trump in front of him. One man, who was excused from the jury pool, compared Trump to disgraced former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Sources