So, the big question of the election for conservatives is what happens if someone other than Donald Trump wins the election?
Would Trump get pardoned? Would the federal cases against him get dropped? Nikki Haley just answered one of those questions.
Donald Trump is currently facing four federal indictments. If convicted, polling says that Donald Trump's numbers collapse to roughly half his current support, and surely not enough to win a presidential election.
He was indicted in March 2023 in New York by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg on 34 charges related to hush money paid to, among others, adult film star Stormy Daniels. This case, in my opinion, is arguably the weakest indictment Trump faces due to the stacking of ledger entries to create a more dramatic indictment. We have seen cases like this in the past, usually resulting in a fine and a slap across the knuckles.
In June 2023, Donald Trump was indicted by Special Counsel Jack Smith on 40 charges of mishandling classified documents and information as well as conspiracy to obstruct. This is one of the more serious cases against Donald Trump, and statements recently made by Kid Rock will surely not help Trump's case. This trial is slated to start in May.
In August 2023, Donald Trump was indicted by Special Counsel Jack Smith in charges related to attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Again, this is one of the more serious cases against Trump, with a judge who will have zero sympathy for him. The critical issue in this case is if Trump has presidential immunity, which has yet to be decided, jeopardizing the trial's March starting date.
In August 2023, Trump was indicted by Fulton County DA Fani Willis for 13 charges related to trying to overturn the election results in Georgia. Trump was charged with 18 co-conspirators, a handful of which have already pleaded out their case.
When asked if she would pardon Trump if he were convicted, Nikki Haley stated:
"I would pardon Trump. If he is found guilty, a leader needs to think about what's in the best interest of the country. What's in the best interest of the country is not to have an 80-year-old man sitting in jail, that continues to divide our country.
"What's in the best interest of the country would be to pardon him, so that we can move on as a country and no longer talk about him."
I understand Haley's thought process here, but if she thinks Trump will go away if she pardons him, she has a few screws loose. Trump will never go away on this front, especially if he is convicted and then pardoned.
Realistically, this is Haley cutting off Trump operatives at the path before they attack on her on this front, especially since she is now flying up the polling, very close to surpassing Governor Ron DeSantis in second place in national polling.
Haley is arguably the most likely candidate to consolidate the never-Trump Republican vote, so it will be very interesting to see how they react to this statement by her, as the never-Trump crowd would prefer for Trump to rot in jail and never be heard from again.
