Let’s just put this out there right now: Donald Trump will go to jail.
Please don’t fight me on it. You know it is true.
The man is facing so many counts, in so many states, over so many different things that there is no way Trump won’t get charged with something that will stick.
Donald Trump is facing 91 different charges. The Donald for sure has nine political lives; however, do the math.
He is going to be found guilty somewhere on something that is going to mean jail time.
And yet, the GOP or MAGA does not seem to have the guts to want to face this reality. Trump certainly isn’t.
Yes, we can make the argument all of these indictments are unfair. My fellow conservatives can also argue that if Donald Trump were a Democrat, he would not have the same issues – look at the legal matters Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, are facing. Joe Biden looks as corrupt as you know what.
But my fellow Republicans always seem to forget one thing: Donald Trump brought this all upon himself. And, looking back, it seems fated to always be in the cards.
Walk Down Memory Lane with Me on Donald Trump
When it comes to January 6th, well, Donald Trump could have done so much more to stop the riot that he indeed bears responsibility for those who were injured and what was an attack on our democracy.
He has not shown any remorse or sadness whatsoever.
He seemed more interested in trying to keep his base of supporters happy with a calibrated message to them – and only hours after it would have had any impact.
But there is more. He decided not to follow the rules regarding classified documents and dared the Joe Biden Department of Justice to go after him.
And then there is the 2020 election. He lost. While indeed, Democrats used state laws to their advantage to expand the voter pool dramatically with mail-in ballots driving votes for progressives – we can argue if that was fair another time – Trump knew this was coming and did not try to get his own voters to embrace it. Instead, be just went on and on to complain how the election was rigged and likely broke the law by trying to impede the fair transition of power.
That can only mean one thing: Donald Trump destroyed himself. The only question now is when will he go to jail for something and how the GOP will respond when that moment comes.
The Timing Matters
But of course, as they say, timing is everything.
For Trump to truly destroy the GOP, getting a guilty verdict later in the cycle would wound the GOP far more than, say, before he wins the nomination. Many argue that there is no mechanism for replacing a candidates in all 50 state ballots if Trump were to quit say late summer after the nominating convention is over. Clearly, this is not the case if say Trump gets hauled off to jail this year.
So if the GOP wants to destroy itself, by all means, make Donald Trump the nominee and play what amounts to a game of political Russian Roulette. The Grand Old Party could be dead and buried for good if they do. And they would only have themselves to blame.
Harry J. Kazianis (@Grecianformula) is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive and serves as President and CEO of Rogue States Project, a bipartisan national security think tank. He has held senior positions at the Center for the National Interest, the Heritage Foundation, the Potomac Foundation, and many other think tanks and academic institutions focused on defense issues. He served on the Russia task force for U.S. Presidential Candidate Senator Ted Cruz, and in a similar role in the John Hay Initiative. His ideas have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, CNN, CNBC, and many other outlets across the political spectrum. He holds a graduate degree in International Relations from Harvard University and is the author of the book The Tao of A2/AD, a study of Chinese military modernization. Kazianis also has a background in defense journalism, having served as Editor-In-Chief at The Diplomat and Executive Editor for the National Interest.
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