Former President Donald Trump has decried the gag order against him in his Manhattan criminal court trial as “unconstitutional,” a claim professors say could be working to galvanize his base.

Trump last week was fined $9,000 by Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the trial that accuses Trump of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to a porn star in order to deride damaging allegations in the final weeks of his 2016 campaign.