Could Trump run for office if convicted and pardon himself if elected?By Jesse O’Neill
August 2, 2023
Donald Trump’s political future had plenty of life left a day after he was indicted on four federal charges in connection with his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The 77-year-old former president and current 2024 GOP frontrunner now faces 78 felony charges in three separate cases that could see him sentenced to prison for hundreds of years if convicted.
Additional election interference charges may also be handed down later this month by prosecutors in Georgia.
Trump has vowed to continued his campaign for a second non-consecutive White House term, and had actually seen his poll numbers buoyed by his indictments.
No US president had ever before been hit with criminal charges, but there is nothing in the Constitution that specifically bars Trump from seeking office if he were convicted, a scenario that is not without precedent.
In 1920, perennial Socialist candidate Eugene V. Debs ran for the White House while imprisoned for sedition in connection with protesting US involvement in World War I.
He received 913,000 votes, 3.4% of the electorate at that time.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/08/02/could-trump-run-for-office-if-convicted-and-pardon-himself-if-elected/