The prospect that Donald Trump could be in jail, or at least headed that way, when the 2024 election rolls around is not giving some of his supporters pause, reports NBC News.
In interviews, supporters of the former president, who is facing 91 felony charges in four different jurisdictions as well a handful of civil suits, seem to be under the impression that he can win the 2024 election as well as serve as the nation's commander-in-chief from a jail cell, with one fan admitting, "It would be kind of fun to see actually. I know that sounds crazy.”
The former president could end up in a jail cell in Georgia if convicted on racketeering charges or a federal prison for obstruction of justice -- and some of his supporters would blink an eye as NBC's Jake Taylor wrote.
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Arizona Trump supporter Dayna Duke suggested, for instance, that "If he’s convicted and he wins, put the Oval Office in whatever prison they have him in.”
Republican Vicki Scott claimed there was nothing that would keep her from voting for Trump again and issued a veiled threat based on her belief that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
“He can still run for president if he’s behind bars and he would still get the same amount of votes," she told NBC. "Keep him tied up all next year, and we’re still going to vote for him. And I’ll tell you what, if it gets stolen again, it might be a third world war."
Speaking from experience, former Republican lawmaker Jeff Smith of Missouri, who served time in jail for lying to federal authorities about illegal campaign activities, was a tad more realistic about the effectiveness of a jailed president.
"I mean, you can’t have a phone in prison, so I don’t know how you serve as president of the United States,” Smith explained. “A president who can’t go to the site of a national disaster, a president who can’t take overseas trips. A president who is so limited in terms of the traditional symbolic presidency.”
Noted historian Douglas Brinkley claimed it was possible, but problematic.
“It is plausible this could happen. We’re not just talking pie in the sky,” he said before adding, "The White House apparatus would be moved into a jail cell, and he would probably govern via his lawyer, who would be his chief of staff."
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