All opinions expressed in this article are solely the opinions of the contributors.
On May 30, Donald Trump became the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a felony crime after a jury unanimously found him guilty on all 34 charges relating to hush money payments intended to influence the 2016 U.S. election. While the jury has reached its verdict, the judge will not deliver a sentence until July 11. The convicted felon faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison.
Watch the above video as Straight Arrow News contributor Jordan Reid celebrates the verdict and then offers her predictions for what’s next.
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The following is an excerpt from the above video:
One: Trump will not go to jail. He’ll serve house arrest or some such; I do think there will be some tangible comeuppance.
Two: His supporters won’t care.
A caveat, there — some of his supporters will care. Some more traditional Republicans who have struggled with Trump’s more hideous personal qualities, excusing them because — “what’s the alternative” — will find electing a convicted felon to be a step too far — which, great, but that also begs the question: Where do these voters go?
Maybe they would’ve gone to Nikki Haley, but that ship has sailed. Maybe they would have been Bernie Sanders voters back in the day, but that’s some depressing water under the bridge (sidenote: I didn’t vote for Bernie, because I wanted to see a woman in the White House, but I consider that a massive personal mistake).
Will these voters go to Biden? Some, sure, but I worry that too many will simply be too disenchanted with the system to show up at the polls at all. Is a non-vote better than a vote for Trump? Yes. But we still need to consider the candidates down the line, the initiatives on the ballots. We need people to vote on a whole plethora of people and issues; despite appearances, it’s not actually all about the presidential race. So take your moment to celebrate. You deserve it; we don’t get many nice things these days.
Interested in opposing perspectives? Have a look at how our other contributors view this issue from across the political spectrum:
Newt Gingrich: Biden sees Trump jail time as sole path to reelection.
Dr. Rashad Richey: Trump’s own behavior betrays his guilt.
