Do you want to know why Donald Trump should not run for president?
There are plenty of reasons why he shouldn’t, but here we examine the 3 main reasons.
On Thursday, Trump turned himself into the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia. The AP News reported that he “was released on $200,000 bond” and then flew back to New Jersey.
It was the fourth charge he had received.
Reuters, in its article, has suggested that this charge was related to attempting to subvert the 2020 election. Other charges brought against Trump include:
- Solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer
- False statements and writings
- Filing false documents
- Conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer
- Conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree
- Conspiracy to commit false statements and writings
- Forgery in the first degree
Many of the cases, linked to these charges, have trials set for 2024.
This really doesn’t paint a pretty picture!
The U.S. Senate and Trump
One of the surest ways to keep Trump from running in the 2024 U.S. Presidential election is by going through the U.S. Senate.
This is because, as Chris Edelson (assistant professor at American University), has suggested, being indicted or having convictions can not prevent Trump from running. However, at one of his impeachments, it would have been possible for Trump to have been sentenced by the Senate. As Edelson stated:
The clearest path to disqualifying Donald Trump from running for office would have been if the Senate had convicted him in one or both of the impeachments
Chris Edelson
The 14th Amendment clearly states that it “banned those who engaged in any insurrection, against the United States, from holding any civil, military, or elected office without the approval of two-thirds of the House and Senate”.
Merely being indicted does not, however, keep Trump from being a presidential candidate or becoming president if elected.
Trump supporters
Despite Trump’s involvement in these cases, he is the frontrunner to be the Republican presidential nominee for 2024.
FiveThirtyEight’s poll showed that Trump is ahead by 49.9%. The closest candidate is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is 14.6%. As of Sept. 1, Trump is ahead by 50.3%, and DeSantis sits at 14.8%.
In July 2023, The New Republic wrote an article about Trump and DeSantis. It discussed, in detail, a poll that shows Trump’s potential for beating DeSantis. The polling results were so stark, that even if the other candidates were left out and only Trump and DeSantis were running, DeSantis would still lose.
This article mentioned that if these two were the only options to vote for, about “62 percent of Republican voters” would pick Trump in contrast to the 31 percent choosing DeSantis. The poll also showed that 69% thought Trump was a “stronger leader.”
A real eye-opening was how people viewed Trump’s current situation.
Only 19% believed that his post-2020 elections actions were a danger to democracy, and only 17% think he did something wrong. This was after the charges that were brought in the classified documents case.
Whether these charges will hinder Trump’s chances, is anybody’s guess. However, what we do know is: that numbers fluctuate in polls, according to FiveThirtyEight, by only a small amount; and that they gave examples of before and after Trump’s indictments.
Donald Trump’s messaging
Trump is a major distraction.
Most of these cases have a date set in 2024, and this could very much keep the focus on Trump.
Trump’s messaging, in response to these indictments, has also been provoking supporters to respond.
According to AP news:
“the indictment is being held up as proof of a conspiracy to take down the Republican ex-president”
AP News
Trump supporters, also view it as an election interference by the Democrats, media, and the deep state.
Trump’s summing up of the fourth indictment, has fueled their fire to defend him. Trump told the crowd at a campaign event in New Hampshire:
They want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom…They want to silence me because I will never let them silence you.
Donald Trump
Some supporters say that the indictment was an attack on freedom, and others brought up Hunter Biden or other involved parties like prosecutors.
Trump is using his indictments as a political tool by depicting it “as an assault on democracy, freedom, and his followers.” His reaction to his charges was to put out a message, implying that the indictments were related to January 6th, whilst ignoring all the other events that led up to it.
Dora Kingsley Vertenten, a political scientist at the University of Southern California, told AP News:
Trump’s use of the charges against him on the campaign trail means the volume of misinformation about the indictments, the Jan. 6 attack, and the 2020 election is likely to increase.
Dora Kingsley Vertenten, (for AP News)
Vertenten concluded by saying:
I think we’re just getting started
Dora Kingsley Vertenten