The manner in which the U.S. magistrate judge addressed former President Donald Trump as he appeared in her D.C. federal courtroom on Thursday to be arraigned on new charges has set social media ablaze.
As U.S. Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhaya came into court to preside over the proceedings, she addressed the former president as “Mr. Trump.”
Trump pleaded not guilty to all four federal charges stemming from special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into 2020 election interference and the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021, Fox News reported.
The casual greeting led some observers and journalists to speculate whether Trump would be bothered by not being referred to as “Mr. President.”
“If there is one thing I know Trump loves that he’s called Mr. President now,” tweeted ABC Executive Editorial Producer John Santucci.
Left-wing commentator Victor Shi wrote: “No mention of Donald Trump being former president. No special treatment. Treating him as just another man in a Courtroom. This is the rule of law at its best.”
But others chided the judge for the lack of respect. “Every other president would have been addressed as ‘President’ not ‘Mr.’… Let’s be real,” tweeted Daily Caller’s chief national correspondent Henry Rodgers.
On the other hand, some users pointed to etiquette guides that indicate the judge may have been adhering to protocol in this situation. According to these guides, the title “Mr. President” is typically reserved for formal settings and for the incumbent holder of the office, Fox News reported.
U.S. District Tanya Chutkan will preside over the actual trial. Upadhaya said that Chutkan plans to set a trial date of Aug. 28.
Chutkan, an Obama appointee, has been called “the toughest punisher” of Jan. 6 rioters, but she has a nefarious past in addition to that distinction. According to the UK’s Daily Mail, she also once worked for a law firm that was associated with Hunter Biden.
The outlet noted that last year, a fawning profile of Chutkan by The Associated Press noted: “Chutkan has handed out tougher sentences than the [Justice Department] was seeking in seven cases, matched its requests in four others and sent all 11 riot defendants who have come before her behind bars.”
The story, which ran under the headline, “In Jan. 6 cases, 1 judge stands out as the toughest punisher,” added: “In the four cases in which prosecutors did not seek jail time, Chutkan gave terms ranging from 14 days to 45 days.”
Though prosecutors were not seeking it, Chutkan also jailed “an Ohio couple who climbed through a broken window of the U.S. Capitol.”
Others prosecuted for actions taken during the riot include a “Texas mortgage broker [who] posed for a selfie in front of rioters breaching the building [and an] Indiana hair salon owner celebrated on Facebook a day after she joined the pro-Donald Trump mob,” the AP noted further.
The Daily Mail noted further:
Chutkan had worked at the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner from 2002 until she was confirmed a federal judge in 2014.
Boies Schiller has strong connections to the Democratic Party and then-second son Hunter Biden — whose dad President Biden is likely to face Trump in the 2024 election — was of counsel at the firm from 2009 to 2014.
It is not known if the two ever had any interaction while working there.
Trump was charged late Tuesday with four counts — willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and false statements. According to the Daily Mail, those charges bring a maximum of 55 years in prison, which would effectively be a life sentence for the 76-year-old former president.
In addition, “Trump is already facing 40 federal charges in Florida relating to his handling of sensitive government documents after leaving office, and is due to stand trial in New York next year accused of falsifying business documents after making a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels,” the outlet reported.
