# If convicted, should Trump be pardoned for the long term good of the country? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 26, 2022, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275 "2022-09-26T17:34:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/21 "2022-09-26T18:37:41Z")
Short answer: no Long answer: F\*\*k noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/22 "2022-09-26T18:38:42Z")
There would be US Marshalls and Secret Service, not to mention Federal Protective Service. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/23 "2022-09-26T18:41:08Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Wall off a corner of the prison, build a cell/hut inside the wall. Surround with whatever it takes to keep everyone else out. Yeah, this. All this blather about how “hard” or “complicated” it would be to put Trump in prison is nonsense. Hell, the US custom built a whole prison in Cuba just for “terrorists” that were thought to be “too dangerous” for regular prisons. Doing the same for one guy is a walk in the park. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/24 "2022-09-26T18:41:37Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Let the chips fall, the rule of law must be honored above all else. Agreed; I don’t get how this is even a question. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/25 "2022-09-26T18:43:46Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > The problem with that is that keeping him under arrest but not under real security would invite “rescue” attempts from Meal Team Sixpack. Let them come. Design the prison like [a lobster trap](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobster_trap), easy to get into, hard to get out. The love Trump so much? Fine, let them share his cell. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/26 "2022-09-26T18:43:52Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Long Term Solitary is considered “cruel and unusual”. > > However, perhaps “house arrest” with an ankle monitor, and no internet privileges. - It’s not Long Term Solitary, it’s Indefinite Protective Confinement. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/27 "2022-09-26T18:44:59Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Nixon resigned from the presidency in disgrace; and afterward, he had very little in the way of power or influence or people who thought he ought to have power and influence. Sure, but that wouldn’t be true of Trump. Consequences? “Nixon was a loser.” What can really be done to make Trump a spent force in American politics? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/28 "2022-09-26T18:54:31Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > What can really be done to make Trump a spent force in American politics? Discrediting him by exposing his lies and deceptions in public legal proceedings. That’s why it’s important that he be charged and convicted and suffer the same consequences as would befall anyone else, not only as a matter of justice, but precisely for the long-term good of the country. The idea of current and former presidents as _de facto_ royalty who are above the law is a bizarre anachronism in a nation that was supposed to have rid itself of a privileged aristocracy. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/29 "2022-09-26T18:56:14Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > What can really be done to make Trump a spent force in American politics? It could be done if Republican politicians grow a spine and stand up to the MAGA base. As it is, every one of them is deathly afraid of not toeing the MAGA line for fear that if they stray a tiny bit they become radioactive and will get primaried. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/30 "2022-09-26T19:05:15Z")
As I’ve said before- My Mom’s friend Helga would speak often and at length on how Trump’s rise to power reminded her of Hitler. As Helga was a holocaust survivor, I gave her opinion more weight than most on these things. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/31 "2022-09-26T19:07:37Z")
Also death threats from the unhinged MAGAs. Which sounds redundant… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/32 "2022-09-26T19:56:38Z")
I wouldn’t object to keeping him safe by housing him in a cellblock with the pedophiles and ex-cops. We owe him that much. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/33 "2022-09-26T20:00:57Z")
Pardoned? Hell, no. Though I’d hate to have him as a patient in my Health Service Unit. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/34 "2022-09-26T20:17:45Z")
I think Mr. Morden…errr, I mean Mr. Trump should serve as an example to future generations. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/35 "2022-09-26T20:28:08Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Though I’d hate to have him as a patient in my Health Service Unit. Shouldn’t be a problem – I understand he’s the healthiest ex-president in history. Never before has there been anyone as healthy as he is. Or as smart, as he has told us himself. Or, as he has also said himself, as humble. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/36 "2022-09-26T20:29:21Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I think Mr. Morden…errr, I mean Mr. Trump should serve as an example to future generations. ISWYDT Are you going to go out and wave? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/37 "2022-09-26T20:30:31Z")
Most definitely. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/38 "2022-09-26T20:30:33Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > His prison term should be _commuted._ We can not _pardon_ him, as we want to make sure he never runs again for anything. > > Prison for a person who gets Secret Service protection? The issues there boggle the mind. The MAGAts have **got** to see him in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs being walked into prison. Once he’s there - you can’t commute the sentence. He’d have access to all his electronics 24-7; he’d be free to hold rallies all over the nation. He’d become more of a king maker than he is now. > [@Horatius](#): > > Let them come. Design the prison like [a lobster trap](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobster_trap), easy to get into, hard to get out. The love Trump so much? Fine, let them share his cell. Take a small, minimum security prison, and turn the guards around - keep people from coming in rather than going out. What’s Trump going to do? Escape and go undercover? I’m pretty sure he’d be recognized. He’d started tweeting or twuthing, (and, you know he couldn’t resist); caught within a day. Then again, you could then add jail escape to his sentence. Sounds like a good plan to me! ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/39 "2022-09-26T20:55:22Z")
-checks forum- Trump should, if convicted, be sentenced and jailed in accordance with the crimes he is guilty of, with due note of the need to set an example and his utter and complete lack of guilt or acceptance of any responsibility. So within guidelines, but (IMHO) towards the higher end. No president _should_ pardon them, but I can see a Democratic president choosing to commute the sentence for one of two reasons. First, as many have suggested, I suspect the process of delays, appeals, more delays, and more appeals will result in Trump being in poor health due to age or other issues by the time we get to that point. At which, I’d fully endorse (as I mentioned in a prior thread) a release or commutation of sentence AFTER at least a minimal in-jail sentence AND a detailed statement of responsibility for his various crimes published at his expense in all major media formats. After which, he’d be on supervised home release with limited visitation and no outgoing internet access. The second reason I could see a commutation of sentence is a under-the-table deal with an outgoing Democratic president and incoming Republican - “We don’t want this @#$%^&\* getting a pardon and giving people ideas, and you’ll be under pressure to Pardon him the moment you took office, which will look bad, so here’s what we do…” Ignoring those scenarios though, yeah, I absolutely see an incoming Republican President pardoning Trump ‘for the good of the nation’ if they don’t instead dress it up as correcting a ‘horrific miscarriage of justice’. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/40 "2022-09-26T21:02:21Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I wouldn’t object to keeping him safe by housing him in a cellblock with the pedophiles and ex-cops. We owe him that much. Would the Secret Service have to be with him in jail to keep him from getting shanked or accidentally hanging himself? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275.md?page=3)