A friend of mine is trying to explain what’s going on in this country to his wife, who is from another country. He’s asking for help, and frankly I don’t think there are good answers to all of his questions. I thought I’d turn to the Hive Mind and see if there is a consensus on any of this. Here are his questions:
Let's assume trump gets nominated and runs. Now, suppose trump is found guilty of one or more felonies he's facing now.
1) Does this mean he can no longer run?
2) How would a republican candidate be chosen?
3) If one is not chosen, would the Dems win by default?
4) In other words, if trump is guilty - what next? He can't hold an office. Right? Can Repubs pick a candidate to run?
Help me out here. I'm trying to educate my wife on our politics.
Here’s what I said in reply. It’s not a complete answer, just a first pass at it. IANAL, but frankly I think we’re in unknown territory here and we’re going to need those answers ASAP — which is not what we can expect from the speed at which the courts normally move.
Frankly, it's unknown territory; a convicted felon running for president has never come up before. [Edit — at least not as the nominee of a major party.] But then, neither has an insurrectionist. I believe some states bar convicted felons from running for office; Trump might be barred from the ballot in those states. Trump is counting on running and winning so he can pardon himself.
The problem is the Republican Party. A normal party would never allow him to get the nomination, but they have essentially gone psycho. This could lead to the breakup of the party - or continuing their attempted coup.
The 'good' news it that Trump is not getting much over 50% of the vote in these first two primaries - and that's from people who are supposed to be Republicans. That suggests he'll be in trouble in the general election, more so if he is actually convicted. Nearly half of Republican voters are NOT voting for him. It's the press that's trying to make him seem unstoppable.
So, thoughts?