Former President Donald Trump became a convicted felon Thursday when a jury of 12 New Yorkers found him guilty of all 34 charges brought against him in a “hush money” trial. What does this mean for his campaign?
Well, even as a felon, he can still run for the highest office in the land.
“The U.S. Constitution sets out relatively few eligibility requirements for presidential candidates: they must be at least 35, be a ‘natural born’ U.S. citizen and have lived in the US for at least 14 years,” according to the BBC.
“There are no rules blocking candidates with criminal records.”
Margaret Brennan of CBS’ “Face the Nation” told Audacy that Trump will likely also be able to vote, since the trial was held in New York and the former president is a Florida resident. Since Trump is expected to appeal the case its even more likely that he’ll be able to vote, she added.
“July 11 is the sentencing date for this conviction. Is jail time possible? Well, in theory, but no one has said they’re actually seeking it,” said Brennan. “It’s considered highly unlikely, though, on paper, these… charges would carry with them, potentially, four-year sentences.”
Penny Wolfgang, a former New York State Supreme Court judge, also said jail time for this type of conviction would be unusual.
“I can only tell you that in a, in a regular, normal, ordinary case – which this is not – a person, a defendant would not receive jail on an E felony, a nonviolent felony such as this,” she told Audacy.
Per BBC, Trump’s team is already planning to ask Judge Juan Merchan to move the July 11 sentencing date, which is just four days before the Republican National Convention, where Trump is expected to be officially declared the 2024 GOP presidential candidate. After besting the other pool of potential candidates in the primaries, Trump is already the presumptive candidate.
Polls have also showed Trump trending ahead of President Joe Biden even as he faces a mountain of legal troubles. An exception is found in Emerson College Poling results released Thursday. Those results showed that New Yorkers favor Biden and that most thought that Trump would be found guilty in the hush money case. One of four indictments Trump faced last year, the New York case centered around payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair she and Trump had.
“As proven at trial, Trump engaged in a scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election and went to extraordinary and illegal lengths to hide this conduct from the American voters and public, illegally causing dozens of false entries to be made in New York business records of his Manhattan-based company to conceal attempts to violate state election law,” said a press release from the office of the District Attorney of New York County.
While Trump will be able to continue his campaign, legal analyst Thane Rosenbaum told Audacy that the jury decision could work to sour Trump’s reputation going into the November election.
“It’s ugly. It’s got hush money with a porn star. It looks terrible,” he said.
Rosenbaum also said that Biden and Democrats are going to use that to their advantage and use the “felon” tag when they can.
“President Biden is going to use this,” Rosenbaum said. “He’s going to call him that. Everyone will be. The question is, you know, it does seem – you know, I’m not a political analyst – it does seem that Donald Trump gained more momentum as this trial was going on.”
Indeed, Trump has benefitted from his legal trouble in the past. When he was booked on separate charges in Fulton County, Ga., Trump used his mugshot to sell merchandise and fundraise. He was even seen as more electable after the photo was released.
As we get closer to the election, Trump still faces more legal challenges.
“We know that we’re still waiting on the Supreme Court to make a decision as to whether… federal cases against Mr. Trump can go forward,” said Brennan. “The Supreme Court has to decide on this principle of whether a president, former [or] current, can face criminal prosecution.”