Matthew Whitaker, the former acting attorney general in the Trump administration, told Newsmax on Wednesday that Judge Juan Merchan is likely weighing prison time for Donald Trump very carefully against the possibility that such a sentence would backfire and incite sympathy for the former president ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

"The problem is that Judge Merchan knows that if he puts Donald Trump in prison, that will make him even stronger," Whitaker said during an appearance on "Wake Up America." "It's kind of like the Star Wars character … Obi Wan, who became stronger if he was struck down. I think that's what they're going to deal with here, is that if they put him in jail, not only will Donald Trump supporters rally around him even more than they have in the past, I think you'll start to see people's eyes open and understanding that this is, and has always been, election interference."