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Truck drivers who support former president Donald Trump have voiced that they won’t be driving to New York City to underscore their disappointment with the civil fraud judgment that fined Mr Trump more than $350m.
On 16 February, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Mr Trump, his two sons, Trump Organization associates and Trump properties were liable for tens of millions of dollars. While Mr Trump — and his companies and his trust — were ordered to pay over $350m plus interest, his sons were also ordered to pay roughly $4m. Many truck drivers across the country have seemingly taken issue with the ruling.
A man known online as Chicago Ray posted a on X following the decision: “I’ve been on the radio talking to drivers for about the past hour and I’ve talked to about 10 drivers” He added that truckers are going to “stop refusing loads starting on Monday.”
“I don’t know how far across the country this is or how many truckers are going to start denying loads going to New York City, but I’ll tell you what — you f*** around and find out,” he said.
“We’re tired of you f***ing leftists f***ing with Trump,” he continued, while wearing a Trump-branded cap. “Our bosses ain’t going to care if we deny the loads. We’ll just go somewhere else, alright? You know how f***ing hard it is to get into New York City in one of these [vehicles]?”
“Truckers out for Trump,” he said, before reciting one of Mr Trump’s lines, calling the ruling “election interference.”
The seemed to gain some traction. As of Sunday morning, the phrase “Boycott NYC” was trending on X, with more than 13,000 posts mentioning the term.
It’s unclear whether the boycott will actually manifest. But Chicago Ray isn’t the only one who has voiced opposition to the civil fraud ruling.
Elena Cardone, the wife of wealthy real estate investor Grant Cardone, created a GoFundMe page — called “Stand with Trump; Fund the $355M Unjust Judgment.” Her husband explained on X that “100% of funds will be forwarded to Trump Org for his defense of this ridiculous judgement.”
On the page, she wrote: “I stand unwaveringly with President Donald Trump in the face of what I see as unprecedented and unfair treatment by certain judicial elements in New York.”
Since Ms Cardone launched the fundraiser, it has already raked in over $240,000.
The strong reaction to the civil fraud judgment could serve as a bellwether of how America will respond to the outcomes of the now-ongoing court cases that Mr Trump is facing in federal and state courts.
