# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/41 "2022-09-26T21:18:22Z")
It was a mistake when Ford did it, and it’d be an even bigger mistake for Biden. The furthest I’m willing to go is that, if he’s convicted of any of the capital crimes he’s committed, like treason or espionage, Biden should commute the sentence to life in prison. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/42 "2022-09-26T21:33:33Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Convict him and watch the economy boom again. How would convicting him affect the economy, one way or another? ---
**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, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/43 "2022-09-26T21:38:51Z")
It would be like a dark clould lifted from the nation. Confidence in American democracy would get a boost. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/44 "2022-09-26T21:43:35Z")
> [@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. After a few years, however, he ended up being treated as a sort of eminence grise on foreign policy, doing interviews, traveling overseas, writing books and opinion pieces. Because “Nixon went to China,” he was rehabilitated a little in the public eye. Not power, certainly, but a little influence. With Trump, I’m in favor of scorched earth and salting the ground. The only person in his family, including that creepy son-in-law, who should come out of this unscathed is Barron. And keep a close eye on him. ---
**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, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/45 "2022-09-26T21:50:38Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > The only person in his family, including that creepy son-in-law, who should come out of this unscathed is Barron. And keep a close eye on him. I often wonder about him. He’s had a front row seat to a lot of the stupid crap his father and elder siblings were pulling these last 6 years. I really wonder what his take-away lesson has been. Does he realize how messed up they are, and has committed himself to getting away from them as soon as possible? Has he bought into their nonsense? Has he just never thought about it? If he were to write a book, it’s just about the only one from a Trump that I’d actually read, just to find out what it was like from his point of view. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/46 "2022-09-26T21:53:27Z")
I’m worried that imprisoning a cult leader only increases their stance with their followers and makes them a martyr, which, in the long term, isn’t a good thing. Trump has at least one son (Don Jr.) interested in taking on the mantle. What can be done to deprogram Trump’s followers and dismantle MAGA as a political movement? ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/47 "2022-09-26T21:57:56Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > If Trump is convicted of serious crimes, and given a long prison term, should Biden, or whoever is president, consider pardoning him to prevent civil unrest and to unify the country, or let the chips fall where they may? I don’t think hardly anyone should get a long prison sentence for essentially non-violent crimes, especially if this is their first time in prison. So — no pardon, but thousands more commuted sentences, of which this could be one. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/48 "2022-09-26T21:59:54Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > I don’t think hardly anyone should get a long prison sentence for essentially non-violent crimes, especially if this is their first time in prison. Sure, but what does that have to do with Trump? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/49 "2022-09-26T22:04:48Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Though I’d hate to have him as a patient in my Health Service Unit. Seems to me he’d be a relatively low-risk patient. Sure, he’d blab off his mouth 24/7 with narcissism, but he poses no physical threat at age 73 and all you would have to do is perform colonoscopies due to his old age and red-meat-heavy diet. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/50 "2022-09-26T22:04:50Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > If Trump is convicted of serious crimes, and given a long prison term, should Biden, or whoever is president, consider pardoning him to prevent civil unrest and to unify the country,… This premise is flawed. This would do nothing to unify the country. If Trump is convicted of serious crimes, then he can pay serious consequences as the law provides them, and justice demands them. ---
**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, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/51 "2022-09-26T22:08:53Z")
@Velocity Yeah, but I’d have to honor my oaths and treat him responsibly and with basic human respect. Well, I did that for two serial killers and a bunch of other murderers and rapists so I guess I would manage. But luckily I’m retired. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/52 "2022-09-26T22:11:15Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Confidence in American democracy would get a boost. That’s not the same thing as an economic boom. How would a conviction affect inflation, commodities, the markets, the supply chain, etc., leading to a boom? All of those issues are world-wide. ---
**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, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/53 "2022-09-26T22:21:47Z")
One could argue that failures in American leadership during the pandemic caused many of our economic problems and caused instability in the markets. Would Putin have felt free to invade Ukraine had the Trump admin not turned its back on NATO and played the Ukraine as a sacrifice to Putin? Which in turned brought about a fuel crisis that helped trigger inflation. But this is a debate for another thread. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/54 "2022-09-26T22:30:09Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Which in turned brought about a fuel crisis that helped trigger inflation. No. Inflation started going up a year before the invasion of Ukraine. The “fuel crisis” may have affected inflation later on, but it certainly didn’t trigger it. Try again. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/55 "2022-09-26T22:40:15Z")
He should not be pardoned. NO FUCKING WAY IN HELL. Ronny Jackson would no doubt be thrilled to have the cell next door just so he could take care of his greatness. Shit, what am I thinking, he’d want the same cell. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/56 "2022-09-26T22:40:21Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > “Led directly”? I don’t see it. If it was a factor, it was a relatively minor one. There’s a thesis or more in tracing lines of decay in the public’s expectations of our presidents, but I’ll just say this: Trump is a firm believer that it’s not wrong if the President does it. Pardoning Nixon encouraged that belief. Consequences? What consequences? History says he has nothing to be worried about. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/57 "2022-09-26T22:51:52Z")
[To the tune of the theme song from “The Flintstones”] Gitmo. Straight to Gitmo. It’s the place the gibbon needs to be. Gravel. Out of big rocks. Til he passes, that’s just fine with me. Let’s ride With the traitor who’s been beat. Garland Knots the noose won’t that be sweet? Gitmo. Straight to Gitmo. Let’s have him do time. Maybe Ad Seg time. He should do lots of time! ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/58 "2022-09-26T22:55:00Z")
Bravo Dude! 🙂 ---
**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, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/59 "2022-09-26T23:02:28Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > I don’t think hardly anyone should get a long prison sentence for essentially non-violent crimes, especially if this is their first time in prison. > > So — no pardon, but thousands more commuted sentences, of which this could be one. Attempting to overthrow the government should get a long sentence, this is a fuck ton more serious than robbing a bank or even murder. What he did makes Al Capone look like a choir boy. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275/60 "2022-09-26T23:02:42Z")
Well done, **David**! 👏 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-convicted-should-trump-be-pardoned-for-the-long-term-good-of-the-country/972275.md?page=4)