Trump 2016 vs. Trump 2024

If elected, Trump hopes to legally maneuver his cases so he can postpone trial until he can resolve the problem as president.

“We could very well have a sitting president under felony indictment and ultimately a criminal trial,” said Donald Trump said. “It would grind government to a halt.”

Of course, this was not the current Trump speaking, the former president who stands a chance of winning the 2024 election, but the “other” Trump, the Republican candidate for president in 2016 who, at the time, was referring to the possibility that his rival, Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, could be convicted as part of an inquiry into the use of her personal email to handle classified information while she was secretary of state.

One of the most popular chants at Republican rallies in 2016 was “Lock Her Up.”

A prominent feature story in USA Today recalled Trump’s saying, “We need a government that can work and work well from day one for the American people. That will be impossible with Hillary Clinton, the prime suspect in a massive far-reaching criminal investigation. Her current scandals and controversies will continue throughout her presidency and will make it virtually impossible for her to govern or lead our country.”

Of course, the “current” Trump now faces charges of trying to interfere with the 2020 election results in the state of Georgia, of trying to prevent the certification of the same election ballot in Congress and, of course, of improper handling of classified documents that he took with him when he left the White House.

The American press reports that, if elected, Trump hopes to legally maneuver his cases so he can postpone trial until he can resolve the problem as president by pardoning himself of federal crimes and fighting to the last when it comes to state crimes.

Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying documents in New York in connection with illegal payments to a porn actress, Stormy Daniels, and now awaits sentencing on July 11. Regardless of the sentence, which may or may not include jail time, Trump and his lawyers are expected to appeal.

In the case in Georgia, a predominantly Republican state, he is charged with interfering with the election by pressuring local officials to alter the outcome of the vote for president. Trump lost Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes and subsequently lost the state’s 16 electoral votes.

Trump’s lawyers have succeeded in challenging the prosecutor in charge, Fani Willis, because of her personal relationship with a member of her prosecution team, and the trial is on hold.

In any case, the trials and potential convictions cannot prevent the real estate tycoon from being elected and taking office. But it would signal a huge change in American society.