A “cancer on the Republican Party,” according to Bolton.
John Bolton, a former national security advisor, has suggested that the arrest of Donald Trump could be “rocket fuel” that helps the former president win the Republican candidacy.
Bolton said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on a Sunday that he wasn’t concerned that Alvin Bragg would harm Donald Trump, but rather that Trump would gain support from him. If Trump is found not guilty or is successful in having the case dropped because it lacks legal merit, he will have ample ammunition to declare, “I told you this was a political prosecution.”
Just days after a New York grand jury decided to arrest the former president on charges related to alleged “hush money” payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign, Bolton, who served in the Trump administration for just over a year, made the remarks.
On Tuesday, Trump will be tried in the case in New York, and Bolton has argued that a conviction or acquittal would have far-reaching consequences.
For the reasons Bolton outlined, “I think he does have reason to be concerned about the substance of the case here,” the general concluded. While everyone’s attention has been on the indictment, I believe the true question is whether Alvin Bragg will be convicted in the immediate future or whether Trump will be released; the political ramifications of each outcome are very different.
Bolton has predicted that the former president will use his supposed “vindication” if Trump is not condemned as campaign fodder.
Bolton claims that “that will have a very different impact on people” if Trump is condemned before the 2020 election.
Bolton has said, “I think most Americans actually don’t want a convicted felon to be the president” if Trump is found guilty of a crime.
Bolton, who has said he is still thinking about a bid for president in 2020, has suggested that Trump should let another contender carry the Republican Party’s torch in 2024. But he was disappointed that Republicans seem to be rallying around the ex-president’s camp.
The conviction and the party’s reaction to it have not boded well for the future, Bolton said. The Republican Party is dying because of Trump.