'Don't lock him up!' Experts predict GOP convention will martyr an absent Trump

Republicans in 2016 who called for locking up Democrat Hillary Clinton might unveil a new chant at the 2024 Republican National Convention: "Don't lock him up!"

A political expert told the Daily Beast the rallying cry is likely to be heard in Milwaukee in July — particularly as there’s a good chance a conviction would mean the Republican nominee won’t attend.

If Trump is found guilty in his hush money trial that’s set to start in New York on April 15, he will be a felon by the summer — and sentencing will likely coincide with the GOP get-together, the Daily Beast reported Wednesday.

“What’s probable is that if he’s convicted, Trump will likely be due back in court roughly a month later for his mandatory sentencing hearing, timing that overlaps with the three-day Republican convention that starts July 15,” the Beast reported.

And that will likely become the central theme of the event, making the convicted presidential candidate a martyr for his perceived persecution.

“That strikes me as imminently depressing.” Bowdoin College politics professor Andrew Rudalevige told the news outlet.

“If he didn’t attend, what you’d see is some kind of video appearance testifying to his martyrdom. Given the reaction of the GOP base to his indictments, which has been largely to embrace his victimhood, I don’t know that would make a difference.”

And Barbara A. Perry, a University of Virginia-based expert on the American presidency, agreed.

“They would just use it as a rallying cry,” she said.

“Instead of ‘lock her up,’ they'd probably shout, ‘Don’t lock him up’ and talk about the ‘deep state,’ Democrats, and ‘Crooked Joe Biden.’”

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Trump’s hush money trial — which is set to be the first criminal case to be heard — revolves around business fraud accusations involving payments allegedly made to an adult movie actress to buy her silence about an affair.

If it starts as scheduled, experts say it will likely conclude in early June. If Trump is found guilty, sentencing in New York is usually between two and six weeks later — putting it right before the date of the GOP event.

The experts the Beast spoke to say he could be hit with limits on his travel, or even be in a New York state prison.

“It’s not necessarily baked into the American tradition that candidates have to attend the convention,” said Allan Lichtman, a professor of history professor at American University. “Plus, the convention is vastly less important since reforms of 1968, which diminished the role of party.”