Update (4/30/24): On April 30, Merchan gave Trump permission to attend the graduation, with the judge stating that “Mr. Trump can certainly attend that date” since the trial is on schedule.

During the first day of former President Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial in New York, Trump’s legal team requested that he be excused from attending court on April 25, to attend Supreme Court oral arguments regarding his presidential immunity claim, and on May 17, for his son Barron’s high school graduation. The judge overseeing the case, Juan Merchan, barred Trump from attending oral arguments but said it was too early in the proceedings to rule on whether the former president would be allowed to attend Barron’s graduation in May.  

After court adjourned for the day, Trump plainly stated to reporters outside the courthouse that Merchan will not allow him to attend his son’s high school graduation and later reiterated the claim on Truth Social. In fact, Merchan never informed Trump that he would be barred from attending, but instead stated that it “depends on if we are on time and where we are in the trial.” 

Fox News senior correspondent Eric Shawn debunked Trump’s claim on Fox & Friends on April 16, stating, “The judge will not so far bar Mr. Trump from going to Barron's graduation. He said he has not made a decision on that and will make a decision about that later.” 

This has not stopped other Fox News personalities from pushing Trump’s lie to discredit Merchan and the trial.

Fox News hosts push Trump’s lie about missing Barron’s upcoming graduation

On Monday’s The Five, co-host Jeanine Pirro said that Trump would not be allowed to attend his son’s graduation, going so far as claiming that the judge would have Trump arrested if he attended the ceremony. 

Fox contributor Piers Morgan then suggested that Trump should get himself arrested by attending the graduation, saying, “If you're watching, President Trump, just go to the graduation. Every parent in America, whether they like you or hate you, will go, ‘Yeah I’d have done that too.’”

Fox host Jesse Watters also pushed Trump’s false statement, claiming that if the former president tries to attend Barron’s graduation then “the judge will throw him in jail for that too.”

While appearing on Outnumbered the following day, Fox News contributor Ben Ferguson suggested that Trump should dare Merchan to have him arrested for attending the graduation, saying, “I think there's a certain point where you’re like, ‘Alright, screw all of y’all — if you’re going to do it this way, I am going to go to my son's graduation, and if you’re going to lock me up for that, then go ahead and do it.’”

Later in the segment, Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy claimed that Democrats are “trying to demoralize” Trump by not allowing him to attend his son’s graduation, concluding, “This feels super communist.”