Donald Trump has a plan to use GOP primaries as a defense in criminal trials: report

The Republican primaries are proceeding with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley vying for second place while Donald Trump appearing clearly headed for the GOP nomination.

But, according to Salon's Heather Digby Parton, Trump wants to get them wrapped up as soon as possible.

Trump reportedly wants to get the nomination of his party by March because he believes special counsel Jack Smith is hoping to take him off the campaign trail at a crucial time.

"Trump also wants to get the primary race out of the way so that he can legitimately claim to be the presumptive nominee and use that argument to back up his fatuous assertion that this is a political prosecution and he cannot be put on trial before the election," Parton writes.

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"There are many pending legal issues before the courts that will have to be decided, not the least of which is Trump's inane claim that staging a coup was part of his official duties and therefore he has immunity from prosecution. If the courts decide in his favor, it's all over for the January 6 case and it's unlikely any of the others will come before the election.

"But if Trump truly believed that argument was going to prevail, it's unlikely that his campaign would have adopted this current strategy to end the traditional campaign early so that he can wage a different one in court," Parton adds.

According to a New York Times poll, the majority of Americans believe Trump committed some sort of crime in relation to Jan. 6. When asked if a Trump conviction would change voters' minds, enough to potentially change the outcome of the election a majority said it would.

Read more at Salon.