Rick Wilson Talks Trump Pardon, Leaves Out Worst Part

Suppose, for whatever reason Trump isn’t the GOP nominee next November, and that another Republican emerges and defeats President Biden. It’s not as crazy a prospect as it sounds. In fact, it’s something some have thought about, especially since so many Republicans including current challengers like DeSantis and Haley have said already they’d pardon Trump. Now, DeSantis hasn’t got a snowball’s chance in hell in the GOP race for the nomination and even less in a general election. Haley on the other hand has a lot, a LOT of old-school Republicans who would back her candidacy and more importantly cough up HUGE sums of money to make her competitive.

Then there’s the hope someone else might emerge from a chaotic convention. A “White Knight” (emphasis on the white part!) and I even saw an article this weekend saying Romney of all people might get considered. Sure. When Hell freezes over. I still think Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp could emerge. That’s a whole bigger subject for another time. For the moment let’s just say we wind up with a Republican President come 2025. Even if they manage to slither past equivocating on pardoning Trump in order to win they will have signaled in code to the MAGAs that they’ll do it just to get their votes.

So as I’ve said some, including some folks who’s job it is to think about such things have started to game things out. According to Raw Story one of them is former GOP master strategist turned Never Trumper Rick Wilson of the Lincoln Project.  It seems in addition to tweaking Trump’s political nose two or three times a week Wilson has taken some time to consider the awful “What if?” Wilson, like many believe the GOP needs to die and something new reborn from the ashes. Something purges of Trump and Trumpism but he’s a practical person and knows that’s unlikely, at least in the near term. What’s more possible is that in 2024, or 2028 another Republican than Trump could become President and pardon him.

Wilson rightly fears a Republican President and the GOP at-large will carve out a sort of exemption for Trump, allowing him to be above and/or unaccountable to the law. Also that Trump will continue to proclaim his innocence. (Not to mention exact retribution which Wilson doesn’t go into) It doesn’t matter that legally, including via SCOTUS precedent dating back a couple hundred years acceptance of a pardon carries with it admission of guilt. This is Trump we’re talking about. He’ll find a way to spin his way out of it, at least with the 25-30 million hopelessly under his evil spell in MAGA Nation. Wilson paints a grim picture:

“The response from Trump is not going to be, ‘Oh, thank you for pardoning me. I’m an 80-year-old man,'” said Wilson. “The response will be: ‘Now that I’ve been vindicated, I will seek power again.’ This is a guy who has been told over and over again the rules don’t apply to him; the law doesn’t apply to him. They are repeating the stupidest and most pernicious assertion you can make about Trump. Which is that we are going to give the guy a free pass, that his illegality, his criminality, his unbelievably corrosive behavior in this democracy is going to be forgiven if a Republican somehow gets the nomination against him. It is astounding.”

I don’t doubt a bit of what Wilson says but he fell well short of taking things to the place he should have. Let’s assume the worst and some other Republican is sworn into the Presidency instead of Biden. (Or in 2028 and if Trump isn’t dead by then) Trump will once pardoned turn right around and start demanding the VP resign. I don’t see that person or their GOP boss being able to stand up to Trump. Trump gets himself appointed VP and then starts in on that GOP President. Let’s face it, a GOP President would mean a GOP controlled Congress, both Senate and House. I don’t think it’s crazy to imagine ten or so Democratic Senators voting to convict that GOP President on Articles of Impeachment, whether for personal safety reasons, political survival or both.

Okay, so it’s not a likely scenario but it’s not remote either. Trump has that kind of hold on the GOP and only him being locked away in prison, his beloved Trump Org. in ruins would after two or three years break the Trump fever.  2024 is upon us and while it’s been said in the past it’s sure as hell true now.  So, when you hear people in your life start talking “does it HAVE to be Biden?” tell them to imagine a Republican President. Because even if they promised not to, they WILL find themselves under unbearable pressure from the grassroots up through the Congress to pardon Trump. What I fear is what we saw in 2026 with Hillary, a belief that she was much better qualified than Trump or any of the other candidates he steamrolled on his way to the nomination. But come voting time too many people talked themselves out of doing so for “reasons.” We can’t afford that. Not again. Think it through past where Wilson went, bad as his own musings are to contemplate.

New Year’s resolutions are almost always broken/forgotten. The only question is how quickly. But this year I’m making one and you should make the same one. Work like HELL to re-elect Joe Biden next November! If he doesn’t win all the work and sacrifice made to move us towards (albeit not quickly enough) towards our founding ideals will have been for nothing.