Donald Trump has been found guilty of using a criminal hush-money scheme to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.

The verdict came after a jury deliberated for less than twelve hours in the unprecedented first criminal trial against a US president. It marks a perilous political moment for Trump, the presumptive nominee for the Republican nomination, whose poll numbers have remained unchanged throughout the trial but could tank at any moment.

  • platypus_plumba@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Could someone explain how it’s possible for him to be running for president?

    Like, are there no laws against this? Is the only requirement for the person to have a pulse?

    • VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      If felonies prevented people from holding government positions just imagine how many bogus charges would be leveled at the GOP’s enemies just to see if anything stuck. Just look at how Russia throws bogus charges at people to prevent them from running against Putin.

    • SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      The U.S. Constitution states that the president must:

      • Be a natural-born citizen of the United States.
      • Be at least 35 years old.
      • Have been a resident of the United States for 14 years.
      • FanciestPants@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        It’s kind of like the scene “there ain’t no rule a dog can’t play basketball” from Air Bud. The constitution has set minimum qualifications to be president, but didn’t bother with the disqualifications because it would be insane to try to conceive of every possible scenario that would disqualify an individual from seeking the presidency.

    • Subverb@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      There are no laws against it, no.

      In fact he can be president and in prison at the same time, but he won’t get prison time.

    • liminalcharlie@lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

      The Constitution does not say anything about a criminal record, so, that’s why. But, be real. If all the politicians had their skeletons out on display, literally none of them would be without a criminal record.