A viral post shared on X, previously Twitter, claims former President Donald Trump’s defamation trial was recently delayed to the day of the New Hampshire primary, resulting in election interference.

🚨🚨BREAKING: The judge in Trump’s E. Jean Carroll defamation trial just delayed todays trial until tomorrow — the day of the NH primary. This blatant election interference.

— MAGA Elvis 🇺🇸 (@BenStanton77) January 22, 2024

Verdict: False

The claim is false. The trial was delayed due to a juror feeling ill, not election interference, according to The Hill.

Fact Check:

Trump returned to court Thursday and testified for under three minutes in his defamation case against writer E. Jean Carroll, according to The Associated Press. Carroll accused Trump of ruining her reputation after sharing a story in which he allegedly sexually assaulted her, the outlet reported.

“BREAKING: The judge in Trump’s E. Jean Carroll defamation trial just delayed todays trial until tomorrow — the day of the NH primary. This blatant election interference,” the X post, viewed over 1,000 times, purports. The post did not provide a source to support the claim.

Trump’s defamation trial was not delayed as a result of election interference, however. According to The Hill, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan delayed the trial after Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, and a juror both “reported feeling ill.” Habba shared that she’d recently been exposed to COVID-19 but tested negative, the outlet reported.

Likewise, there are no credible news reports suggesting the delay in the trial resulted in election interference. In fact, the opposite is true. The New York Times and Reuters also reported Trump’s trial was delayed due to juror illness. In addition, Trump did not repeat the claim about his trial being delayed due to supposed election interference on his website or his TRUTH Social account. (RELATED: Is Trump The First To Win New Hampshire Primary 3 Times?)

Although the claim about election interference is false, Trump’s potential vice presidential pick and Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik re-shared the viral X post to her verified account, labeling President Joe Biden and “his Democrat cronies” as “the true threats to democracy.”

“This is blatant election interference! Joe Biden and his Democrat cronies are the true threats to democracy! TRUMP 2024!,” Stefanik wrote.

This is blatant election interference!

Joe Biden and his Democrat cronies are the true threats to democracy!

TRUMP 2024! https://t.co/LnBmYxa5ud

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) January 22, 2024

Check Your Fact has contacted a Trump spokesperson for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.