Glenn Kirschner weighed in with his take on Trump's convictions, posting a video response to the outcome.
It seemed worth sharing here.
Kirschner reminds us that Trump is not just guilty of trying to pay hush money to a porn star, although that is what generated the most attention by far (I even heard some people refer to it as the "Stormy Daniels trial"). No, this was much more. It was about Trump systematically falsifying business records. Another way of putting that is fraud.
Also, while usually staying out of outright political discussion, Kirschner mentions how this might hurt Trump. I have heard that same stat, that something like 20 percent of his supporters would refuse to vote for him.
Yesterday, I expressed skepticism about this, because I have heard similar things before. I stand by that, and will believe it when I see it. That said, I sure do hope to see it! Usually, I agree with what Kirschner says. But there have far too many premature declarations that Trump is politically dead for me to believe that.
Remember, people proclaimed his political campaign dead almost as soon as it started in the summer of 2015, after he trashed Mexican immigrants and championed a ban on immigration from Muslim countries. His campaign not only continued, but in fact gathered momentum.
Many proclaimed his campaign dead after he mocked a disabled reporter. Not long after, Trump won the Republican nomination.
They proclaimed his campaign dead during the general election, after a recording of him talking about how, as a star, he could get away with anything, including being in a room full of naked beauty pageant contestants, and how he could "grab them by the pussy." Yet he still won the election and won four years in the White House.
He did so many ridiculous and utterly stupid things while in office, many of which people were sure would prevent him from getting re-elected. And while he did not win another term - Thank God! - he nevertheless was closer than many thought. Remember, while Biden won the popular vote by something like seven million votes, the race was much closer in the so-called battleground states.
Once he lost the 2020 election, people were quick to proclaim him dead politically. But the Trump rallies and circus act continued. Even after January 6th, when at first many people expressed disgust with his actions, Trump managed to weather the storm.
And now, here we are. Trump was pretty much the presumed 2024 Republican nominee from almost the time that he lost the 2020 election. Many Republicans and their allies, like FOX News, seemed willing and even eager to move on from Trump. But when push came to shove, and they saw that he was not going to be stopped from receiving the nomination, they went right back to his side, as if nothing had happened. And let's face it: the poll numbers are scary. Surely, these convictions will have an impact on the poll numbers, which have been frankly favorable to Trump to this point. But will they really hurt him, or even cripple his campaign?
I wish I could be as sure as Kirschner or others. But history - and I mean very recent history - has shown otherwise.
In a normal country, or in more normal times, I believe that this would indeed likely cost Trump. Have to qualify that, because remember, many presidents and other politicians have gotten away with horrific scandals and not only survived, but downright thrived politically. Indeed, in more normal times, I don't believe that Trump would have won office in the first place. But these are not normal times, and Trump is still the presumed Republican nominee, having beaten all other contenders, and now received their endorsements. Things are not so different with him as they have always been since the 2016 presidential campaign. So while I am glad that he is increasingly being held accountable for his actions, and for his outright criminal conduct, I will continue to proceed with caution as far as what this means for his presidential campaign this year. Frankly, the sad truth is that in the state of the country as it is, despite everything and all of the mountain of evidence against him (and not just that he these latest convictions), Trump still might win.
Trump Guilty of 34 Felonies: Welcome Accountability!
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