Questions raised about fairness of trial due to Trump repeatedly calling the soldier, held captive by the Taliban after walking off his post, a ‘no-good traitor’

A military judge called Donald Trump’s scathing campaign-trail criticism of army Sgt Bowe Bergdahl “disturbing” on Monday and questioned whether it would make the public think the soldier could not get a fair trial for walking off his post in Afghanistan in 2009.

During a pretrial hearing, defense attorneys played part of a video exhibit in which Trump repeatedly says at campaign appearances that Bergdahl is a “traitor” who should be harshly punished. Bergdahl’s lawyers argue the comments violate their client’s due-process rights and that the case should be dismissed.