The outcome of Donald Trump‘s hush money trial doesn’t sit well with Judge Judy Sheindlin, but not for the reason you might think. On May 30, a Manhattan jury found former US president Donald Trump guilty of falsifying business records in the first degree, in connection with payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 to silence her. District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of the case eventually led to Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal the $130,000 of hush money.
Speaking to CNN host Chris Wallace, the reality TV judge challenged the verdict, also slamming the Manhattan DA. Judge Judy explained that as a taxpayer in the country, she frowned at Bragg’s use of the system for “his own personal self-aggrandizement.” When the host asked if she thought that’s what the DA did in the hush money trial, she affirmed it, saying,
“That’s what I think. I mean, if you look โ you had to twist yourself into a pretzel to figure out what the crime was.”
Going further, Judge Judy admitted she would have been much happier if the DA focused his efforts on keeping actual criminals off the streets. That, she explained, would be better off than spending $5 million to $10 million of taxpayers’ money on Donald Trump’s hush money trial. Judy dismissed the trial as “nonsense,” expressing just how much she resented the situation in its entirety.
Judge Judy’s Take on Donald Trump’s Presidency
Judge Judy went on to gush about Donald Trump, and what she thought about him despite the hush money trial and his conviction. She continued to praise the former POTUS’s business antics, saying,
“I think he was a good businessman, a real estate guy. And he was certainly terrific on The Apprentice.”
Despite her rose-tinted view of Trump, Judge Judy had her reservations when it came to having him as president. She admitted that she does not think the former POTUS should have ever been president. According to her, even Donald Trump himself never expected himself to win the presidential election until it happened.
Judge Judy’s take on Trump’s presidency is a rare insight into her political views. Despite backing former U.S. ambassador Nikki Haley in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries, the 81-year-old has mostly remained a political independent, steering clear of partisan affiliations. Hence, one can safely say her take on Trump is solely borne out of personal opinion, devoid of political sentiment.
