Trump has been a controversial figure in the political landscape for over half a decade. From New York businessman to politics, his journey is truly unlike any other President. During his tenure as head of state, he integrated his conservative agenda, introducing corporate tax cuts and reforming the federal justice system. His foreign policy can only be described as nationalistic, prioritizing the welfare and betterment of the United States above all else. However, his term wasn’t all roses; he facilitated racial inequality, increased partisanship, and poorly handled the COVID-19 crisis leading to unprecedented circumstances. Trump’s hard-line right-wing politics did gain him a substantial following but his shortcomings as president ultimately resulted in him losing to Mr. Biden in the 2020 election.
The aftermath of the election is infamous for all of the drama stirred up by former President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. From January 6th to the Mar A Lago incident, Donald Trump has certainly found a way to keep himself in the spotlight. However, due to his rash actions, he’s now in the position in which 4 indictments have been charged against him. The first indictment levied against the former President deals with alleged hush money payments to an adult film star to cover up their affair. The second indictment deals with the classified documents that are on Mr. Trump’s property while the third indictment concerns Trump’s attempted interference with the election results. However, the most pressing case is the Georgia indictment which deals with Trump’s and his allies’ pressure campaign to overturn the election results specifically in Georgia. This indictment details 13 charges against Mr. Trump and his aforementioned entourage including prominent figures like Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. The gist of the legal argument is that Donald Trump and his team, under the RICO law, have been charged for “unlawfully conspiring” to change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, and they were able to charge all of them together because they were all acting in furtherance of the same illegal goal.
Why is this indictment more dangerous to Donald Trump than the other 3 indictments he was charged with? The fact of the matter is that while the other two pressing indictments are on the federal level, this indictment involves the jurisdiction of the state of Georgia. So even if Donald Trump gets re-elected as President, he won’t be able to pardon himself. Presidents have the unique ability to pardon themselves of any crime, but this only applies to federal cases leaving Donald Trump vulnerable. Though Fani Willis, the lead prosecutor, doesn’t have a slamdunk of a case, Trump’s defense of freedom of speech is utterly laughable. The indictment is against the conduct of his actions which perpetuated an illegal activity, not about what he specifically says. However, I don’t think that these indictments or any of the other indictments will have any discernible impact on either Trump’s presidency or freedom. Nothing like this has occurred in America’s long and storied history, especially not to a former U.S. president. Donald Trump has the financial means and the power to hire a competent defense team to fire on all cylinders. As for his election hopes, his popularity in the polls doesn’t seem to have been impacted by his legal troubles. On top of that, the Democratic Party doesn’t seem to be implementing Trump’s legal troubles into Biden’s campaign strategy. All of this is to say that Trump’s precarious situation remains to be of importance in the 2024 presidential election. Moreover, Joe Biden is a much more flawed candidate this time around in the public eye. He is described as “old” and “unfit to lead America”. As a result, early data suggests that Donald Trump is the favorite to become elected as the next president of the USA.
If things go as expected, he will be able to pardon two of the four indictments levied against him. And with his esteemed position, I’m confident that he’ll be able to discreetly dismiss the hush money case and the Georgia indictment. So are these indictments against a former President unprecedented: yes. Is it going to have an impact on Donald Trump’s future: probably not. But hey, it’s just a thought!