Trump is a felon. So what?
CityAM’s American business correspondent Jennifer Sieg takes a look at why she believes Donald Trump’s criminal conviction won’t be enough to keep his fans from flocking to the polls in the upcoming US election.
Donald Trump is now the first ever major political party candidate running for office as a convicted felon, and yes, it seems as though Americans will still flock to the polls to give him their vote this fall.
One of the first questions that had to be answered after the former president was found guilty of all 34 charges in his hush-money trial was whether he could still run for office as a convicted felon — and the answer is yes.
The US Constitution requires only three things for a person to run for president: to be at least 35 years old, to be a natural-born citizen, and to have lived in the US for at least 14 years.
The 77-year-old American businessman-turned-politician—who could face a maximum sentence of four years in prison—still ticks all of those boxes.
However, the freedom for Americans to vote should also be made clear.
As long as a candidate’s name is listed on the ballot, a vote can be placed for whichever party one wishes to choose, felon or not.
Americans will still vote for Donald Trump
Trump is unlikely to end up in an orange jumpsuit anytime soon (although, considering his love of the colour he might be happy to make a fashion statement…it may even suit him).
Still, even if he does, it may not make much difference – the man is nearly unstoppable.
And he won’t be the first criminally convicted presidential candidate to receive the American vote, either.
In the US election of 1920, Socialist Party candidate Eugene V. Debs received 1m votes while inside a prison cell without stepping foot on the campaign trail at all.
The political activist was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted under the Sedition Act of 1918 for protesting against World War 1 in front of a 1,200-person crowd in Canton, Ohio.
Even still, during the 1920 US election, while serving time as a convicted felon, Eugene V. Debs received nearly three per cent of the American vote.
That was before the age of social media.
So who is to say, Trump, whether a convicted felon walking the campaign trail or sitting in prison, won’t receive the same number of votes—if not more—as he would have before?
Long before his first official political debut in 2016, Trump has managed to rally up a cult-like following. Today, the following is stronger than ever.
The replies to Wake Up America’s “HONEST QUESTION: Would you still vote for Trump is he is imprisoned?” tweet on X, formerly Twitter, are arguably terrifying.
“Yes, absolutely and with even more enthusiasm,” one respondent wrote.
“Especially if he is imprisoned….yea I’ll show up even if I have to fight my way to the polls,” wrote another.
I’ve watched the majority of the last Trump-dominated decade unfold from a front-row seat in the US — although now proudly across the pond — and I’ll be the first to say that his newly crowned status as a convicted felon will be far from what keeps his fans (morally or not) from flocking to the polls in November.
His campaign raked in $25m more than Biden’s in April, and in recent weeks, influential billionaires have started to make positive noises. The FT has reported the hedge fund manager Bill Ackman “is leaning towards backing Donald Trump.” Meanwhile, Blackstone founder Stephen Schwarzman has thrown his weight and $41bn fortune behind Trump.
However, time will only tell what the future holds for American leadership – so get popping your popcorn because the next five months will be nothing short of interesting.