'I can’t elect a criminal': A Trump conviction could cripple his re-election

While new polls over the weekend show President Joe Biden struggling against presumptive Republican Party 2024 presidential nominee Donald Trump, a deeper dive into the numbers demonstrates the former president's odds of winning would take a huge hit if he is convicted in one of his multitude of criminal trials.

According to reporting from the New York Times, for voters who are wavering between the two leading candidates a Trump criminal conviction would have a major impact on their vote.

What should be concerning for Trump, besides the prospect of ending up in jail, is that voters in key states who responded to those polls would drop him like a hot rock after a conviction.

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?

The Times is reporting Trump, "... remains weaker than at least one of his Republican rivals, and if he’s convicted and sentenced in any of his cases, some voters appear ready to turn on him — to the point where he could lose the 2024 election."

At issue are potential voter flips in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where polling shows about 6 percent of Trump's support would wither away if takes a loss in criminal court.

The sea change would cost him the election, with one Republican voter, Kurt Wallach, 62 of Maricopa County telling the Times, "If he got convicted, I’d say great, put him out of the race, let’s get another Republican. If he’s not been convicted then I’d probably vote for Trump.”

Dakota Jordan, 26, also of Maricopa County agreed, explaining, "If he was convicted, there’s absolutely no way — I can’t elect a criminal as my leader."

The Times report also notes, "Mr. Trump remains broadly unpopular."

"A majority of swing state voters view him negatively. And the Times/Siena polls show that another Republican candidate, the former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, would outperform Mr. Trump against Mr. Biden by 3 percentage points in these six states," the report states. "In a matchup that pits Mr. Biden against a generic Republican candidate, the Republican candidate wins by 16 percentage points."

You can read more here.