How is trump still a viable candidate for president? Really, how?

I think this is key. Trump voters feel threatened by crime and disorder. Locally, they are scared of Philadelphia.

I have a Salvadoran-American friend in this 98 percent:

98% of Expatriate Salvadorans Choose Nayib Bukele

Bukele is Trumpy in affect, terrible on civil liberties, and successful in reducing high crime rates. My friend says that for the first time in his life, he is not frightened to go home for a visit. The U.S. would only be harmed by a Bukele, but Trump’s politics are based on convincing us that the U.S. is like pre-Bukele El Salvador. Many are buying.

Thing is that regarding Trumpy, he misleads about lowering crime, because there was no “tide of violent crime” for him to lower when he was president.

As a Salvadoran, I have seen reports that Bukele’s way of accusing people that want to start a small business as being also gangsters, and other heavy ways of handing people that could be gangsters, is beginning to cause people to dislike Bukele.

It has to be dispiriting to have as commander in chief a guy who thinks stealth fighters are literally invisible.

Trump to be guilty this week? Will he get 5 years probation? Aileen Cannon supervising it in Florida?

and more

First president ever to fail to hit a 50% approval rating at any point during their presidency.
First president ever to be elected with the help of a foreign nation.
First president ever to be impeached twice.
First president ever to have a member of their own party vote for conviction in an impeachment trial.
First president ever to have an arrest warrant issued against him by a foreign nation.
First president ever to refuse to concede defeat.

Nice. Shared to Facepalmbook.

So, you’re saying he’s a groundbreaking President who has accomplished many things no one else has done? /s

Sure, in the sense that digging a grave is ‘groundbreaking’.

A metaphorical grave for his political legacy, that is.

Who’d have thought the party of law & order would be backing a convicted felon for POTUS? Or is he finally not a viable candidate?

Who’d have thought that the party of Cold Warrior Hawks would have just shrugged about a president in league with Russia, but we jumped the shark a long time ago.

Unfortunately, I expect that the right wing reaction is going to be to somehow discount either the city of New York or the technical nature of the crime to declare this an illegitimate prosecution.

Nevertheless, I do agree with your sentiment. What the hell happened to the Republican Party?

Oh it’s all “Trump is innocent, corrupt judge, election interference, Biden, etc etc” everywhere in the MAGAsphere right now, including from Congressional Republicans. I’d say they ought to know better but no one would believe me - not even me.

So what happens when Trump violates probation?

We call that a VOP. It’s a new criminal charge.

If he’s given a suspended sentence, then violates probation, the sentence gets unsuspended and off to jail he goes!

You mean by, say, associating with known criminals he is saying he will pardon if he wins? It is highly likely he will do that, and that some of the known criminals he will associate with also have a history of violating election laws.

I think your question highlights the challenge this verdict creates for the legal system. The whole purpose of that system is to prevent crime.

Look at this news story from last week:

Senate Democrats launch investigation into alleged Trump ‘quid pro quo’ with oil executives

This sounds to me to be a violation of the New York election law that was part of the chain that pushed Trump’s business record falsification into felony territory.

Normally I am against prison and in favor of probation. But I’m afraid DJT is going to make a mockery of the probation system, and will get away with continuing to disrespect election law.

I’ll believe it when I see it. I don’t think they’ll even confine him to Trump Tower.

Would have thought that the Right Wing Evangelists would back a serial adulterer, fornicator, and worse?

It sold its soul for power, and Satan called the note.

“Unfair! This didn’t happen to Robert Johnson!”

“I’d rather support Felon Trump than Pedo Biden.” – My Mother.

He’s still a viable candidate because a significant number of American voters are off their rocker. It’s been an interesting day of discussions with my MAGA mom. She made the usual MAGA complaints that Merchan instructed the jury to come to a guilty verdict, that he wasn’t requiring the jury to come to a unanimous verdict, that he was purposely not providing the jury with written instructions, etc., etc. I did try to engage and told her why her complaints weren’t valid I was told, “You believe what you want to believe and I’ll believe what I want to believe.”

Like many MAGA cultist, she lives in a bubble. I don’t really speak to her about politics very often, so the only people she talks to are those in the MAGAsphere. That’s one of the reasons why Trump is still a viable candidate. It’s just so easy for us to stay in our own little bubbles.