Trump-supporting truckers have said they will refuse to take loads to and from New York City after the former president was fined $355 million in a civil fraud verdict.
A conservative social media influencer and a trucker who goes by Chicago Ray posted a video claiming that some of his colleagues will stop making deliveries to New York City to protest the ruling issued in a Manhattan Supreme Court on Friday.
“I’ve been on the radio talking to drivers for about the past hour, and I’ve talked to about ten drivers … and they’re going to start refusing loads to New York City starting on Monday,” Ray said in the video from inside his truck.
“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 mess around and find out,” Ray continued.
Following the video, former President Trump endorsed the trucker campaign.
“Such an honor to have so many Great Patriots on the side of FREEDOM! Joe Biden’s Unfair and Dangerous Weaponization of Law Enforcement is a serious threat to Democracy. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Ray went on to say that 95% of truckers are for Trump and that the prosecution of Trump is election interference.
In addition to imposing a hefty fine against Trump, Judge Arthur Engoron on Thursday banned the former president from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation or other legal entity in New York for three years. He also ordered Trump’s sons, Don Jr. and Eric, to pay $4 million each in fines.
Whether the campaign will grow large enough to disrupt the flow of goods into New York remains to be seen. Ray’s video has received more than six million views as of early Sunday afternoon.
Trump, like Chicago Ray, has blasted the case as election interference by his political opponents and predicted other fallouts for NYC, as he said at a rally Saturday that other businesses will leave the city after his ruling.