'His client disagrees': Legal expert highlights split between Trump and his campaign

Donald Trump and his campaign are saying different things in a rare instance of the two being off message, a legal expert said on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, Trump suffered a loss when an appeals court mostly affirmed a gag order that was previously stayed. The appellate panel however limited the order, saying Special Counsel Jack Smith is fair game for attacks.

When he responded to the news earlier in the day, the former president assailed the appellate ruling.

"An Appeals Court has just largely upheld the Gag Order against me in the ridiculous J6 Case, where the Unselect January 6th Committee deleted and destroyed almost all Documents and Evidence, saying that I can be barred from talking and, in effect, telling the truth," Trump said Friday. "In other words, people can speak violently and viciously against me, or attack me in any form, but I am not allowed to respond, in kind. What is becoming of our First Amendment, what is becoming of our Country? We will appeal this decision!"

But his campaign hailed the decision, saying in part that "a huge part of Judge Chutkan’s extraordinarily overbroad gag order was unconstitutional."

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MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin pointed out the mismatched replies.

"Trump spox Steven Cheung issued a statement today celebrating the D.C. Circuit's determination 'that a huge part of Judge Chutkan’s extraordinarily overbroad gag order was unconstitutional.' Except his client disagrees," Rubin wrote.

The lawyer further added:

"On Truth Social, Trump had the opposite reaction: 'An Appeals Court has just largely upheld the Gag Order against me in the ridiculous J6 Case. . . .' For a group that usually is at least message coherent (while trafficking in disinformation), this is *something.*"