Nobody should be surprised that a New York appeals court refused to postpone Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial while the former president fights a gag order restricting what he can say about the case. Why? Because the chances that the order will be overturned are minuscule.

I doubt that there has been a criminal defendant who has faced as many judicial gag orders as Trump. The former president, who never seems happy unless he is on the attack, has in recent months spewed vitriol on judges, court staff, prosecutors and potential witnesses in his pending trials in Manhattan and elsewhere. We can certainly debate the constitutional nuances of gagging a criminal defendant and recognize the sensitivity of restricting the speech of a presidential candidate. But it’s easy to see why frustrated judges try to shut him up. In so doing, they stand in a long tradition.