Trump's Lawyer Admits Social Media Attack on Alvin Bragg 'Ill-Advised'

Joe Tacopina, a lawyer representing Donald Trump, admitted on Sunday that the former president's social media attacks against Alvin Bragg were "ill-advised."

Bragg is the current Manhattan District Attorney and is leading a long-term investigation into Trump's alleged involvement in a 2016 "hush money" payment scheme. Trump is accused of orchestrating a plan to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to stay quiet about an affair the two allegedly had in 2006. His former lawyer, Michael Cohen, has already pleaded guilty to his involvement in the plan and said that he acted at the behest of Trump. Trump has denied that an affair ever happened and dismissed the legitimacy of the investigation.

In response to Bragg's accelerating investigation, Trump has increasingly targeted him with derogatory remarks on his social media platform, Truth Social. In one post, he called the district attorney an "animal," an insult many deemed racist due to the fact that Bragg is African-American, and "Soros-funded," a nod to antisemitic conspiracy theories surrounding George Soros, a billionaire businessman of Jewish descent known for his prolific donations to left-wing political causes. Bragg previously received a $1 million donation from Soros to his campaign for office, though as with all district attorneys, his duties in office are funded by tax dollars.

Appearing on NBC News's Meet the Press on Sunday, Tacopina was asked by host Chuck Todd about Trump's inflammatory remarks on social media, which the lawyer distanced himself from.

"I'm not his social media consultant," Tacopina said. "I think that was an ill-advised post that one of his social media people put up and he quickly took down when he realized the rhetoric and the photo that was attached to it."

Todd then referenced another Truth Social post from the former president that included an image of Trump wielding a baseball bat next to an image of Bragg. Though Trump, as Tacopina mentioned, ultimately deleted the post, it was enough to draw sharp criticism from many observers. This included a critical article from the New York Post, the right-leaning newspaper that Trump once said was his "favorite."

"He hasn't changed in the slightest. There is no shame," the Post's editorial team wrote in an op-ed piece published on Friday. "After riling up rioters, cheering for a coup, and agreeing that his vice president needed to be hanged, he's back to making violent threats against fellow Americans."

Newsweek reached out to Bragg's press office team via email for comment.