Trump says he'll still run if convicted and sentenced, responds to security footage allegations

[speak easy]

Source: abc News

Former President Donald Trump said Friday that he'll continue to run for president even if convicted and sentenced on criminal charges brought by the special counsel investigating his handling of classified documents after leaving office.

Trump made the remarks during a call-in radio interview on the John Fredericks Show, a day after a grand jury returned a superseding indictment that, among other charges, alleges that Trump, longtime aide Walt Nauta, and Mar-a-Lago staffer Carlos De Oliveira attempted to delete surveillance video footage at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in the summer of 2022.

"If going forward, right, you get these indictments, there ends up -- you got a jury in D.C., you get convicted and sentenced -- does that stop your campaign for president if you’re sentenced?" host John Fredericks asked Trump in the interview.

"Not at all," Trump replied. "There's nothing in the Constitution to say that it could, and not at all."

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-hell-run-convicted-sentenced-responds-security-footage/story?id=101773573

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. And he will not only lose zero support but will probably gain voters. Willing to bet on that one.

[LiberalFighter]

14. I disagree. There will be in my opinion enough to keep him out of office.

He lost by over 7 million votes.
About 60% or more of those 65 and older dying since the last election can't vote. They are likely Republicans.

Republican vs Democratic ratio of young voters is lower than those 65 and older.

Not everyone that voted for Trump in 2020 will vote for him in 2024. Especially Independents.

It is over a year before the election. And more information will come out and more people will get disgusted with him.

[Eliot Rosewater]

29. I didn't say he would win, I said and I believe

he could get more voters than he has now depending on how much of a criminal he is, but I don't believe he can win the election by getting more votes. I do believe if he is the nominee and when he loses he will instigate another January 6th and that could be the end of everything.

[oldsoftie]

40. My usual reminder of reality; Biden won by about 44,000 votes not 7M

The popular vote does not get you the win; the Electoral College vote does. And Biden barely won the EC by about 44k votes over 3 states. Had he lost those States, the EC vote total would've been tied & the House would've selected Trump.
We MUST focus on the battleground states and NOT the total vote

[newdayneeded]

65. Plus, last election Biden

was able to jog up airplane stairs. He's getting some negative visuals that'll be replayed every single repub commercial. people on here don't want to admit it, but this (his age) will be a factor.

Everybody here, including me, are Biden 100%, but I'm worried about the independents.

[oldsoftie]

67. You're right. And thats the problem.

Here, you simply cant have a discussion about the few things that are perceived weaknesses because you'll get yelled at and alerted on.
I've had people send me messages, but what kind of discussion is that?

[onetexan]

64. Yup, not to mention the millions of young people who w be

Eligible to vote before the '24 election. The idiot Con w not be voted in again. He'll be in prison where he belongs.

[Elessar Zappa]

17. No way.

He’ll have his cult and a small number of independents. Not enough to win re-election. Bookmark this post.

[whopis01]

23. His supporters will become more fervent, but he won't gain numbers

He will lose voters overall. But his core group will become even more fiercely loyal.

[Trueblue1968]

33. His Vice Presidential running mate will be his PRISON ROOM MATE ---- BIG BUBBA

Last edited Fri Jul 28, 2023, 06:17 PM - Edit history (1)

[Eliot Rosewater]

34. Fingers crossed.

[oldsoftie]

41. Certainly none of the Cult will leave him. They've said as much already.

The Independents & non-crazy GOP voters may very well leave him. I know a few who already have & I believe them since I didnt ask
The battleground states are MUST win. Or at least MOST of them

[Eliot Rosewater]

45. My concern

Is the half of the country that won’t vote or doesn’t usually vote, very scary.

I should’ve made it clear in my initial response i do not believe Trump is capable of winning the election by getting the most votes.

I do think if he is the nominee when he loses there will be massive problems.

[oldsoftie]

57. That IS scary; considering about 1/3 of eligible voters didnt vote in '20

I mean, did they not think THAT election was important enough??

[Eliot Rosewater]

58. 1/3?

I think it was way more than that if you’re saying 2/3 of eligible voters voted in 2020? I would think it was way more than that, there are two categories to keep in mind one is registered voters and one is eligible voters because so many Americans aren’t even registered.

[oldsoftie]

59. Yep; according to Pew Research, just over 62% of eligible voters voted.

Not registered voters but anyone legally allowed. Total of just over 158 million voted.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/11/01/turnout-in-u-s-has-soared-in-recent-elections-but-by-some-measures-still-trails-that-of-many-other-countries/

[ificandream]

2. One huge mistake by the Founding Fathers and generations afterward.

This type of situation should never have been allowed to happen. But that's where we are.

[LiberalFighter]

11. They didn't fathom there would be criminals like him.

[melm00se]

20. what he said

[Wednesdays]

21. Or, they figured any criminals would be weeded out

by the democratic process.

[whopis01]

24. Or so many idiots like his supporters n/t

[Irish_Dem]

38. Yes they did. Our FFs knew there were criminals, bad ones, who wanted to be demigods.

They had just fought and won a war against one.

What they didn't count on is that the American people would idolize and adore a ruthless
sociopath as president.

In a democracy there is a strong belief in WE THE PEOPLE doing the right thing.

So Trump would not surprise them, but the American people's failure to do their civic duty would be.

[oldsoftie]

42. I agree; many of todays voters would shock the FF

[Hekate]

43. This

[Renew Deal]

3. Republicans might just impeach him before the convention

To get rid of him. At least that's some good fan fiction.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

46. He's not POTUS

So they can't impeach him for anything before the convention.

[Renew Deal]

53. Past presidents can be impeached.

In fact, that's exactly what happened after Jan 6.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/02/11/donald-trump-impeachment-ex-president-founders-468769

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. If TFG is the GOP nominee, there will be some fun ads

Link to tweet

[brer cat]

6. This should be on billboards in red districts.

[sheshe2]

37. +1

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. TFG is not running for office but running to stay out of prison

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Deuxcents]

8. I just posted and didn't see yours ahead of me..apologies

Didn’t mean to step on your post…

[speak easy]

13. Absolutely not a problem.

[Deuxcents]

7. Come hell or a multitude of indictments, he wants to be president

So he can stay out of jail and finish dismantling our country. Not gonna happen, imo

[SouthernDem4ever]

9. This is why repuglicans can't be trusted with a democracy

They will put the biggest fascist autocratic moron in charge and blame everyone else for what happens as a result. They are just disgusting people.

[ificandream]

10. Would love to see him in jail before the election.

[bullimiami]

12. Of course he will. It is is his everything. His money, his fan club, his power.

[ificandream]

15. This kind of puts him in a good way for Democrats.

Figure that many MOR voters are not going to want a convicted and jailed (or even an indicted) president. The question is how many. I don't care how many Repughs want him. They aren't everybody.

[bullimiami]

31. He lost before and his vote share has only shrunk, gotten more strident but smaller.

[TheCowsCameHome]

16. Maybe the Grim Reaper will take him first.

[diane in sf]

19. Certain elements might make sure of that. But I don't think we have to worry about him

being elected. The demographic numbers are not on his side. The Repugs could up their cheating tactics exponentially. They’re always coming up with new election fraud scams. That’s my worry.

[bucolic_frolic]

18. Can he give speeches during visiting hours?

[IbogaProject]

22. Can't be sworn in if he is incarcerated.

I think it would go to the VP pick, maybe or it goes down the chain of succession. But in the end he is going to loose even bigger.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

47. Uh, yeah he can be sworn in.

Nothing says it has to happen in a particular place. Only that it has to happen at noon on 20 January (4 March before FDR), or soon after a President has died or had to step down.

But it can happen anywhere.

LBJ got sworn in on Air Force One, in perhaps the most famous inauguration photo, ever:



Two incidents of inclement weather forced the swearing in to another location. Taft had his inauguration in the Senate chamber in 1909. Blizzard conditions forced reagan to have his swearing in at the Capital Rotunda in 1985.

Three inaugurations happened in the White House--all modern era: FDR & Truman in 1945, for obvios wartime safety reasons, and then Gerald Ford in 1974.

So if a POTUS-elect had to take the oath of office in prison, it would be arranged.

[CTyankee]

62. question: did he have to be sworn in? Wasn't it automatic once JFK had died?

I read that LBJ did it to underscore the unbroken passing of power to assure the world of our stability.

[vlyons]

25. No Donny Dimwit, the constitution prohibits convicted insurrection felons from holding office

Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection and Other Rights

Section 3 Disqualification from Holding Office

"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability."

And guess what? You ain't getting 2/3 of Congress to remove such a disability.

[LudwigPastorius]

68. I doubt Jack Smith will even charge him for insurrection.

[twodogsbarking]

26. Anyone surprised? Anyone?

[jmowreader]

27. The closing remarks at the first debate are going to be so much fun

Our moderator for this evening's festivities is Samuel L. Jackson, who was involved in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.

"Thank you, gentlemen. And now it is time for closing remarks. As is usual, the challenger goes first."

Trump fills the screen.

"I was railroaded! The Deep State and Hillary Clinton needed to try to stop me from Making America Great Again! I'm going to pardon the January 6 participants during my inauguration! I'm going to throw all these treasonous Democrats in prison! If you don't say Merry Christmas to everyone you'll be taken out back and shot! When I'm president again..."

//his mike is cut//

"Motherfucker, please! President Biden, please say something that makes fuckin' sense. And do it quick because I can feel my brain dissolving."

"Thank you, Sam. I was first elected to the Senate in the 1972 election. I had the privilege of working with President Nixon my first two years in office. President Nixon wasn't half as bad as people say he was, but that's only because it is impossible to be as bad as people say Richard Nixon was.

"Nixon famously gave a speech in which he said, 'people deserve to know whether their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook.' That, by the way, is completely untrue; the late, great journalist Hunter S. Thompson reports in his obituary of Nixon that he was 'so crooked he needed servants to help him screw his pants on in the morning.' Thompson did admit that Nixon wasn't completely bad; years before Nixon died Thompson once wrote that Nixon 'does not, as far as I know, fuck pigs or sell used cars with cracked blocks.'

"I'm going to channel President Nixon for a moment here and inform you that, contrary to what Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert are saying, I'm not a crook. And I can say that with a straight face. I've been a public servant for a long time and I've always conducted business honorably.

"On the other hand, my opponent really is a crook. I'm debating a Zoom call tonight because my opponent is doing 242 years without chance of parole in federal prison. I just signed an appropriation of $7500 for the purchase and installation of a walk-in freezer at the prison he's in so that he can stay in jail after he dies until his sentence has expired. Let me tell you what he did: The Central Intelligence Agency, at my request, made a list of the 25 most sensitive documents the United States Government has ever produced. Mr. Trump stole nineteen of them, sold twelve, and the only reason he didn't get the entire batch is because the other six are chained to the walls in nuclear missile submarines. He tried to overthrow the government because he didn't like the results of the 2020 election. He used his campaign funds to pay hush money then tried to deduct his payments from his taxes. By rights we should have stood him in front of a firing squad. He's slime. He's a traitor. And he needs to remain exactly where he is. I implore the Republicans to please find someone who at least isn't going to die in prison to run against me."

[electric_blue68]

32. Heh!

[slightlv]

52. You made me smile with this... thank you! n/t

[mahina]

60. Bravo!

[lanlady]

28. Once again, it's his ego that'll do him in

His best chance to stay out of federal prison is to drop out & work like hell to get a Republican elected who will pardon him. But noooooooo. His massive ego won't allow it.

[wnylib]

61. Good point. I had not thought of that.

Obviously, neither did Trump. Or, if it did occur to him, he rejected the idea of counting on someone else to pardon him, maybe because of the state charges pending, which he knows that the president cannot pardon.

Wonder how he expects to deal with state convictions.

[Texin]

30. "...continue to run for president even if convicted and SENTENCED on criminal charges."

He can't run if he's sentenced to many years in a federal prison. What the actual fuck?

[speak easy]

35. 'He can't run if he's sentenced to many years in a federal prison'

Legally, he can.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

48. For the billionth time

Yes, he can run from prison.

Name the statute or part of the Constitution that says he can't.

I'll wait.

While I'm doing that, I'll remind you that we already have precedent for a run from prison--it's happened before. In 1920 Eugene Debs ran for POTUS from prison, on an offense that had nothing to do with his campaign itself Bugger all was done to stop him. People even tried to get him taken off the ballot, and they failed.

Because the Constitution does not prohibit running from prison. It only requires being a US citizen and 35 years of age.

We might get into a pickle if he gets convicted on a violation of the 14th Amendment, Section 3, but I doubt that ever comes up.

[nuxvomica]

36. I read the headline as saying he'd go "on the lam" if convicted

So before I straightened that out in my head I pictured him as a fugitive, like one of James Comer's whistleblowers.

[Marthe48]

39. BS

If the (formerly) mainstream news stopped repeating traitor's lies about the charges, maybe people would stop thinking he's a victim.

I just listened to Nicolle Wallace play a series of clips about HRC's email, and their rabid attack on her server, and that she might be arrested for a felony, which never happened ever, and their complete turn around about that s.o.b. p.o.s. not doing anything wrong by stealing secret documents and obstructing law enforcement from finding them. Their guy is a freaking traitor and every person who supports him, apologizes for him, minimizes his crimes are are guilty as he is and asmuch of a traitor as he is.

[Novara]

44. Not if states keep you off the ballot, motherfucker

Several states are already discussing keeping him off the ballot via Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. A conviction is not necessary. By the time Jack Smith indicts the motherfucker for J6, the classified documents trial will not factor in whether or not he will continue; the J6 trial will be the factor. And once that indictment is unsealed, I believe several states will keep him off the ballot. They have every legal and constitutional right to do so.

This is more blather and bullshit and distraction.

The J6 indictment will keep him off the ballot in several states. The secretaries of state in those states are just waiting for the indictment.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

49. While several states can propse this

I have grave doubts that they will be allowed to do so. The courts could very well force the states to put him on the ballot until they can sort out the Constitution conflict between the 14th vs. what Act II says about qualification for office.

And it's not a sure thing that the Roberts traitors would side with the states wanting to invoke the 14th.

So be very careful about counting on this to keep him out of office.

Our best bet is to vote. That's a far surer thing than the 14th kerfuffle.

[Rhiannon12866]

50. He's wrong. A conviction in the January 6th case would prevent him from running for office for life

[speak easy]

55. SCOTUS would have to concur with that interpretation of the Constitution.

[republianmushroom]

51. Of course he will, how else will he stay out of prison.

Darn, forgot who the judge is in this case and will impose punishment. Well
that is another way of staying out of prison.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

54. The Banana Republicans put party before country. TFG puts himself before everything.

He keeps talking about how the insurrectionists are "patriots" who tried to "stop the steal." If he felt that way, then why didn't he pardon everyone in the two weeks between Jan. 6 and the inauguration? Whether or not you agreed with him, he had the power to do it. Instead, he left them all to face the consequences of their actions while he sulked off to Mar-A-Lago to avoid Biden's swearing-in. Had he attended the ceremony -- like every president before -- he would be admitting he lost, which in his mind labels himself as a "loser."

If Fat Donnie expects 200,000 to storm the courthouse when he's arraigned, he's in for a rude awakening.

There's not going to be another J6 event, because people have seen they can go to prison for many years -- 3 to 7 is not uncommon -- and lose more than their freedom. They stand to lose everything:, their marriage and children, jobs or business, their savings, their relationship with family members and friends. "I'm going to spend five years in prison because I followed a man who is selling playing cards!" said one convicted insurrectionist.

As an aside, just this month TFG was doing a softball interview on Fox and the interviewer made a passing reference to the 2020 election. His response was immediate and adamant: "I won the election." The interviewer was caught off guard and struggled to get to her next question. What do you say to a person who lives in his own reality?

[pecosbob]

56. 14th won't work...he's not charged with insurrection.

But the documents case might. He should never be allowed to hold another security clearance once he is convicted. This should be enough technically to prevent him from fulfilling the duties of the office.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

63. For this thread

Link to tweet

[newdayneeded]

66. this is his hail Mary pass.

he's really has no other option to avoid prison.

Too bad donny, it won't work.