[Photo: Flickr]
“I’m pleased, more than pleased, with where we are based on where I thought we would be a year ago,” Trump campaign senior adviser Susie Wiles told NBC News about her boss’s prospects last December 15th. What keeps her up at night now, she said, is voter “complacency.” Trump’s devotees became even more energized and eager for his success after his civil indictment in Manhattan for disbursing $130,000 to a porn star for her silence about their affair. Since then, he has been convicted of sexually assaulting a journalist and of subsequently defaming her. Trump’s company was fined in New York for taxfraud, which may hinder his organization’s ability to secure loans. And the highest court of Colorado recently declared him ineligible to be included on their primary ballot an the basis of insurrection.
He was federally indicted in Florida for hiding classified information he kept after his presidency. He has been indicted in Washington, D.C. for trying to reverse the 2020 election outcome. And he was indicted in Georgia for his efforts to overturn his defeat in that state. A conviction in only one of these felonies may result in imprisonment but so far, the most significant consequence he has suffered has been the di culty of scheduling his public appearances around his court performances, which inspired extravagant donations from his faithful followers. But will it disqualify his candidacy? Richard L. Hasen, law expert of the University of California, Los Angeles says no. “ The Constitution has very few requirements to serve as President, such as being at least 35 years of age. It does not bar anyone indicted, or convicted, or even serving jail time, from running as president and winning the presidency.”
The 14th Amendment excludes the holding of public o ce by anyone who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” but that is an untested barrier. If elected, Trump could direct his Justice Department to pardon all offenses. What else? The twice-impeached president’s rst term once was a carnival of chaos climaxing with an insurrection. A second term promises more of the same but with more dependable loyalists enabling him. Princeton University professor Sean Wilentz predicts “It would be the end of the republic.” Violent racism will increase. “ e most immediate concern of Trump returning to the presidency is … violent white supremacist organizations” adds Ibram X. Kendi, director of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University. This will escalate the peril of civil war, especially if his victory is close or questionable, arousing agitated protests on the left.
