The Republican Party has realized that Donald Trump’s schedule for his trials could mean that Trump will accept the party’s presidential nomination as a convicted felon.
“Mr. Trump might have the G.O.P. nomination sewn up before a verdict arrives and voters learn whether he’s a convicted felon,” the Journal editors wrote. “This would certainly delight Democrats.”
The renewed panic about the possibility of nominating a convicted felon recalls the 2016 effort to block Mr. Trump’s nomination after he had won a clear delegate majority in the primaries.
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When the fact that Trump controls the delegate rules and has a stranglehold on the nominating process, it is impossible not to view the Republican nominating process as a rigged game.
If the Republican Party is worried about what it will look like having a potentially convicted felon accept the nomination, they should have thought about that after Trump was forced to leave office in disgrace due to an attempted coup. The Republican Party had years to seize control of the nominating process back from Trump. Instead of standing up to the former president, they paid his legal bills.
No one should have any sympathy for the GOP, because they built this, and if Trump is convicted, it will potentially cost them elections for years to come.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association