The 2020 election was wild in its own right. But this year is shaping up to be a doozy.
Because Donald Trump just got crazy and completely unexpected 2024 election news.
So the Democrats got what they wanted in being able to say that Donald Trump is a “convicted felon” on 34 counts. The “conviction” at this time means next to nothing considering it’s entirely possible and likely that the judge will not have Donald Trump serve any prison sentence until after the election season.
Then, should Donald Trump win, all this nonsense was for naught and the Democrats will be left with egg on their faces. It’s a huge gamble that the Democrats are making, one that doesn’t seem to be paying off.
Not only is this not going the way they wanted, but the opposite is literally true. Donald Trump seems to be stronger than ever after the trial’s conclusion as many believe the trial was a sham from the beginning.
Recently, likely voters out of swing-states ahead of the 2024 election cycle weighed in on the Trump trial and what they thought about the conviction conclusion. Overwhelmingly, voters have said that the trial was politically motivated, unfair, and wrong. Not just independents and conservatives either. Likely Democrat voters agree with this as well.
A group of seven swing-state voters said that the prosecution of the former president was politically motivated and that they were unaware of the offense for which he had been found guilty by a jury.
In the case filed by Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on all 34 charges of fabricating financial documents to hide a payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels on Thursday. The registered voters from North Carolina and Georgia informed 2WAY’s Mark Halperin that they were unable to identify specifics about the crime and that the prosecution’s timing was influenced by the impending presidential election.
Halperin began by asking the electorate, beginning with Jesse from North Carolina, to explain the charges against Trump.
Halperin questioned Jesse about the crime, to which he replied, “I’m not 100% sure, but I think he was convicted of some stuff going on with hush money going to someone he slept with, Stormy Daniels.”
Jesse added, “not telling the truth about money and election interference.”
One voter named Dennise commented, “I think it’s sending money to hush people up.” Dennise is from the swing state of Georgia.
A $420,000 payment was the source of the charges. In 2017, Trump paid his former lawyer Michael Cohen over a 12-month period for “legal services,” which prosecutors said was really Cohen’s payment back for the $130,000 he paid to get Stormy Daniels to sign a nondisclosure agreement before the 2016 election, keeping her quiet about alleged affairs with the former president. Bragg maintained that the documents were fabricated to hide or commit an additional crime, which remained unclear throughout the trial but was thought to be either a campaign finance or election law violation, in order to indict Trump on felony charges and avoid the fact that the statute of limitations had ran out.
“I think it’s legal though, right? To pay to protect an NDA, right, Dennise?” a Georgia citizen named Greg asked.
Greg refuted a Georgia voter named Gerrylin’s statement, “I thought it was that it was campaign funds, so I don’t know much about it, but I thought the problem was that he used campaign funds to pay off Stormy Daniels.”
“I think it’s the opposite though,” he said. “I think he used non-campaign funds, and the crime was that he should have used campaign funds, or at least that’s what they’re claiming. Because it was used to improve his image on the campaign, and so by not classifying them as campaign funds, then that’s what the crime is.”
Clearly, there is plenty of confusion about the case for the average voter as it’s not clear what crime Donald Trump actually committed.
The state election statute that makes it a misdemeanor for two or more individuals to “conspire” to influence an election through “unlawful means” was allegedly broken by Trump, according to the prosecution.
“It was more about the classification of the funds that he instructed his lawyer to do the payout, but the labeling of that … was labeled as legal expenses and not as a payoff or a payment to her,” a Georgia voter named Carrie said.
Halperin questioned Carrie about the nature of the crime and its name. “Uh, I’m actually not sure, no,” she replied. “I guess it would be … yeah, I don’t know.”
Halperin asked Micah, a voter from North Carolina, the same question.
Micah responded, “I would say misallocation of campaign funds, but I’m not sure what the legal term is.”
Four of the seven voters on the panel raised their hands when Halperin asked if Bragg’s decision to “indict and prosecute President Trump was motivated by politics.” All seven people raised their hands when the host asked if they believed that Bragg’s prosecution was being done in a politically motivated manner.
The Conservative Column will keep you updated on any major news on the Trump trial’s sentencing in July.
