Will Trump face consequences for attacking judges and DAs?

Last night, as he has on many other nights, Donald Trump issued a series of social media statements in which he attacked Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis, as well as the whole concept that he should have to make court appearances just because he was indicted for multiple felonies. In talking about Willis or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Trump frequently uses heavily-loaded racist phrases. When talking about federal special counsel Jack Smith, Trump switches to demeaning terms about mental health, with “deranged” being the most frequent tag applied in the middle of long, nonsensical, hate-filled rants.

Trump doesn’t restrict his attacks to prosecutors. Both his social media posts and his rally speeches have also been laced with scorn directed at judges. That includes U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over Trump’s indictment in Washington D.C. for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, and Judge Juan Merchan, who is in charge of Trump’s Manhattan indictment for tax fraud. These attacks are generating safety concerns surrounding public figures involved in the prosecution of Trump and the death threats from Trump supporters have already begun.

But as attractive as the option to stifle Trump may seem, odds are good that no judge will do anything to place significant limits on Trump’s lies and personal attacks.