Explainer-Can Trump Be President Despite His Criminal Conviction?

By Jack Queen

(Reuters) – Donald Trump’s criminal conviction for illegally covering up a secret payment to a porn star will not stop the Republican candidate from continuing his campaign to retake the White House, even if he was sentenced to prison before the Nov. 5 election.

Here’s why.

HOW CAN TRUMP BE PRESIDENT DESPITE HIS CONVICTION?

The US Constitution only requires that presidents be at least 35 years old and be US citizens who have lived in the country for 14 years.

Neither a criminal conviction nor a prison sentence would affect Trump’s eligibility or ability to become president. In theory, he could take an oath in jail or prison if he ousted the Democratic Party President Joe Biden in the November 5 elections.

Presidential campaigns in prisons are not unprecedented in US history. Socialist Eugene Debs ran unsuccessfully for president from prison in the 1920 election, although unlike Trump he was not a serious candidate.

WILL TRUMP GO TO PRISON?

It is not yet known what sentence, if any, the judge will impose.

Trump is a first-time offender for a non-violent crime, and it is rare for people with no criminal record, convicted only of falsifying business records, to be sentenced to prison in New York. Punishments such as fines or probation are more common.

The maximum penalty for Trump’s crime of falsifying business records is 1-1/3 to four years in prison, but in cases involving prison time, defendants are typically sentenced to a year or less.

If punished beyond the fine, Trump could be placed under home confinement or subject to a curfew, instead of being arrested.

As a former president, he has a lifetime of secret service and the logistics of keeping him safe behind bars can be complicated.

Trump could also be released on bail while he appeals his conviction.

HOW CAN A GUILTY VERDICT AFFECT THE ELECTION?

While the silence case is widely seen as the least important of the four criminal cases Trump faces, the guilty verdict could have implications for the election.

Opinion polls show that a guilty verdict could cost him votes in an election that will potentially be decided by just tens of thousands of votes in a handful of swing states.

One in four Republicans said they would not vote for Trump if he were found guilty in a criminal trial, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll of registered voters in April. In the same survey, 60% of independents said they would not vote for Trump if he were convicted of a crime.

(Reporting by Jack Queen; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Howard Goller and Daniel Wallis)