I’ve noticed an interesting analysis twist to the ever-growing list of felonies President Trump is going to stand trial for, the trial date is announced and then…well, there will be a trial. Yes, but is there any decent estimate of length? When it ends, what happens if Trump is convicted?
Stranger things have happened, two grand juries have indicted President Trump, while two more seem likely to any day. Yes the rules are quite different and not a trial, but still upright honest citizens were found who weren’t corrupted by the cult of Trump and produced the correct legal outcome.
One can see how other than uncertainty there would be silence, it’s a ridiculously upsetting scenario to contemplate, a former President of the United States is now going to prison? Not only that, you’re telling me the Republican Party will still somehow travel with this insanity and keep President Trump the 2024 nominee? The convict candidate, is it really possible that in our day and age we will somehow see a felon running for President?
Around a month ago at Ruth Marcus’s Washington Post column this constitutional expert had a hard time with it, she said it was impossible to imprison President Trump because of his Secret Service detail, how could all those guys be in prison too?
[opens hands] Look, I know this all new to everyone and there are zero rules or instructions on how to deal with the convict candidate, but when you are convicted of a felony and are sent to prison you lose all your rights as a free citizen, the Secret Service goes home while you get processed in, the prison is responsible for your welfare now. If things don’t work out exactly well, sorry, that’s the felon life.
President Trump is charged with the lowest-grade felony New York classifies, but it’s still a felony, folks often do a year in County for a misdemeanor. The trial is in May, say it takes six weeks and then Trump gets convicted. The Republican convention is July 15, is it really in the realm of possibility the Republicans could somehow ignore Trump behind bars and nominate him anyway?
The classified documents trial in Florida is set for May too. Then there’s Georgia and then Jack Smith indictments for January 6th. Trump might escape conviction and prison before the convention but could easily be imprisoned as a candidate, that could really happen.
Making the tectonic assumption the Republican Party embraces concepts like honesty, decency and trust and decides to finally ditch President Trump no, they do not get to hold another convention, President Trump resigns as a candidate and the vice president choice becomes the nominee.
Or the Republicans can somehow conjure up a total fantasy where their 2024 candidate somehow runs a presidential campaign from prison. It’s all up to you, guys, yes strange things happen in life but that is never, ever going to work.
Somehow there’s this automatic assumption that if President Trump escapes conviction in 2024 the justice system could still convict him in 2025 and by golly of course a President cannot go to prison so–stay with me–there’s this magical mystical legal maneuver to keep the prison sentence out the conviction, there’s our Felon Sitting President who escaped from prison and consequence again.
Oh man, are you completely totally kidding me? Oh my god, it could happen twice, Trump gets the Presidency while losing the popular vote again, becomes a felon, escapes prison, then another trial convicts him again. The twofer felon popular vote loser Republican President, apparently the Republican Party is somehow just fine with this scenario.
I can see how an American reporter or pundit would avoid this subject, this a black hole of insanity that cannot and could never be, rational American humans do not behave this way, our political system could never be so smashed out this insanity could actually take place in this country.
Well, of course, but as we are all too achingly aware the horrifying insanity of President Trump has been going on for seven years now and the Republicans have careened along in utter political disaster and regression ever since, there never seems a limit or moment of recognition that the insanity must at last stop.
If President Trump gets convicted of a felony and imprisoned that moment would somehow have to arrive–one would rationally think–but unfortunately for the United States rationality has vanished from the Republican in their horrifying, dismaying regression.