Trump Could Still Become President From Prison Unlike Other ‘Coup Leaders’ Around World ‘And That’s Just Weird’ Mystal Tells MSNBC

Justice Correspondent for The Nation Elie Mystal on Saturday said that even if Donald Trump “magically” ends up imprisoned before election day in 2024, there’s nothing to prevent the ex-president from trying to win his way back in power from a jail cell, “and that’s just weird.”

Mystal was on with MSNBC’s Katie Phang Saturday to discuss the latest Trump indictment from a legal and political perspective.

Phang asked Mystal for his “breakdown of Trump’s fate” and how events could play out ahead of the 2024 election, and he responded by pointing out that even under the most severe outcome possible, it wouldn’t mean Trump couldn’t be president again.

Mystal first pointed out that Trump is uniquely in a position of having to win the office of president “in order to stay out of jail.”

“That puts him, puts Trump on par with, you know, other coup leaders, other insurrection leaders the world over,” said Mystal. “But it’s the first time it’s happened here.”

But unlike other countries that “do not let their attempted coup leaders get another shot,” Mystal explained, Trump still gets “an opportunity to run for president and win the power he so desperately needs to stay out of jail.”

“Even if you believe that this is going to go, that is this case is built for speed, and somehow he’s going to be magically brought to trial before the election, and convicted, and sentenced, and see the inside of a jail cell before the election — Even if you believe all of that, there’s no bar on Trump running for president from prison,” he said. “There’s no constitutional problem with him running for president from prison.”

Also on the subject of prison, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday brought up the question of how the Secret Service would handle a jailed Donald Trump, should it come to that.

On Saturday, Trump’s legal team was given a deadline to respond to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s motion for an order of protection to be issued, following Trump’s Truth Social comments on Friday night.

So this is really the first time in American history where a person has had to win the office of the presidency in order to stay out of jail. Now, that puts him, puts Trump on par with, you know, other coup leaders, other insurrection leaders the world over. But it’s the first time it’s happened here. Right?

And one of the things that we’ve know that we can ascertain based on history, based on how other countries do it, is that most of other countries do not let their attempted coup leaders get another shot at running for president. Our country is. We’re going to try to do this in such a way that still gives Trump an opportunity to run for president and win the power he so desperately needs to stay out of jail. Right?

And that’s because even if he’s convicted — look, even if you believe that this is going to go, that is this case is built for speed, and somehow he’s going to be magically brought to trial before the election, and convicted, and sentenced, and see the inside of a jail cell before the election. Even if you believe all of that, there’s no bar on Trump running for president from prison, right. There’s no constitutional problem with him running for president from prison. And he can do that because he wasn’t charged with insurrection, right.

And there are a lot – Look, there are a lot of reasons why he wasn’t, I’m not second-guessing Jack Smith. I get why we are here. But without the insurrection charge, without without the sedition charge, there’s no way to trigger the section three of the 14th Amendment, which is the only thing that could have barred him from seeking higher office.

He wasn’t impeached, he wasn’t charged with sedition, he gets to run again. And that’s just weird on the world stage.

Watch the clip above, via MSNBC.

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