Former President Donald Trump was held in contempt of court again on Monday for violating the gag order imposed by New York Judge Juan Merchan, who threatened possible jail time for any future violations.

Trump appeared unphased by that threat, though, as he expressed his willingness to be jailed in defiance of what he has blasted as an unconstitutional limitation on his free speech rights, Politico reported.

"I’ll do that sacrifice any day"

This was former President Trump's tenth alleged violation of Judge Merchan's gag order, for which he was fined $1,000, and followed close on the heels of the judge hitting him with nine other alleged violations and a $9,000 fine just a week earlier.

"This judge has given me a gag order and said you’ll go to jail if you violate it," Trump told reporters outside the courtroom on Monday about Merchan's threat to jail him if he continues to violate the prohibition against disparaging remarks about jurors and witnesses, court employees and prosecutors, and their families, according to The Hill.

"And frankly, you know what, our Constitution is much more important than jail. It’s not even close. I’ll do that sacrifice any day," he added defiantly. "But what’s happening here is a disgrace, and the appellate courts ought to get involved."

Judge threatens jail time

According to Courthouse News, Judge Merchan took issue on Monday with comments former President Trump made more than two weeks earlier about the rapid pace of jury selection to start the trial and the likely partisan leanings of the jurors. "Nobody's ever seen a thing go like this. That jury was picked so fast -- 95% Democrats," Trump said. "The area’s mostly all Democrat. You think of it as a -- just a purely Democrat area. It's a very unfair situation, that I can tell you."

The judge said in his Monday ruling that those remarks violated the gag order and "not only called into question the integrity, and therefore the legitimacy of these proceedings, but again raised the specter of fear for the safety of the jurors and their loved ones."

Merchan also suggested that monetary fines seemed to have little effect in enforcing the restrictions on Trump's speech, and said, "I cannot allow that to continue. So as much as I do not want to impose a jail sanction … I want you to understand that I will, if necessary and appropriate." He further stated, "It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent. Therefore, going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction if recommended."

Possible jail sentence and political fallout

Axios reported that if Judge Merchan were to feel compelled to follow through on his threat to jail former President Trump for future violations of the gag order, he had a couple of options at hand that ranged significantly in severity.

The first and most likely option would be for Merchan to essentially give Trump a "time out" in a jail cell at the Manhattan courthouse for an hour or so, though he could also order the former president to spend a day or more at the notorious Rikers Island prison -- which would create an unprecedented problem concerning Trump's armed Secret Service protective detail.

Reuters reported that while any brief jail sentence for Trump would undoubtedly bolster his standing with his loyal supporters and buttress his claims of being the victim of political persecution, it could also backfire and further alienate independent and undecided voters by reminding them of the risk Trump faces of criminal conviction and a real prison sentence.

Trump responds on social media

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, former President Trump said, "It is a really bad feeling to have your Constitutional Right to Free Speech, such a big part of life in our Country, so unfairly taken from you, especially when all of the sleazebags, lowlifes, and grifters that you oppose are allowed to say absolutely anything that they want."

"It is hard to sit back and listen to lies and false statements be made against you knowing that if you respond, even in the most modest fashion, you are told by a Corrupt and Highly Conflicted Judge that you will be PUT IN PRISON, maybe for a long period of time," he continued.

"This Fascist mindset is all coming from D.C. It is a sophisticated hit job on Crooked Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME!. Judges Engoron and Kaplan, also of New York, are equally Corrupt, only in different ways," Trump added of the partisan judges who presided over his recent civil fraud and defamation trials. "What these THUGS are doing is AN ATTACK ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, AND OUR ONCE GREAT NATION ITSELF. OUR FIRST AMENDMENT MUST STAND, FREE AND STRONG. 'GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!'"