CNN Morning Crew Laughs At ‘Pearl-Clutching’ About Trump Going To Prison — From Same People Who Chanted ‘Lock Her Up!’
CNN’s morning show crew laughed at the “pearl-clutching” over the prospect of ex-President Donald Trump going to prison — from the same people who embraced chants of “Lock her up!”
Thursday was a historic day, as the jury in the Stormy Daniels hush money trial returned their verdict after two days and just a little over 9 hours of active deliberations.
With “guilty” verdicts on all 34 felony counts, that New York jury turned Trump into the first ex-president to become a convicted felon — and the first presumptive presidential nominee to earn that distinction.
Judge Juan Merchan is set to sentence Trump on July 11, and could impose fines and a prison sentence or probation.
On Friday morning’s edition of CNN This Morning, CNN legal analyst Eliot Williams laid out the potential penalties, but said it was unlikely Trump would go to prison.
Analyst Kate Bedingfield drew laughs when she pointed out the irony that the same people fretting about prison for Trump have been “cheering” those chants of “Lock her up!” since the 2016 campaign — and were still chanting it just last week:
KASIE HUNT: There’s an incredibly weighty decision facing the judge in this case, and if we think that this was an incendiary moment in our politics, a jail sentence for the former president and the current presumptive nominee, Republican nominee, a week before he supposed to be formally nominated at the convention would be that much more incendiary. What’s weighing on his mind?
ELIOT WILLIAMS: Absolutely. And I thank you for inviting me to Republican family Thanksgiving dinner here, and quite enjoyable to be a fly on the wall for.
One of the things that any judge will consider in deciding a sentence is, number one, the crime itself. And what’s the statutory maximum for the crime? Here it’s four years in prison and I believe a $5,000 fine.
Now, other factors are going to come in the defendant’s criminal history, the defendant’s conduct during trial and after wink, wink, the defendant’s behavior, the defendant’s, you know, any violent circumstances of the crime, any number of factors, the possibility of rehabilitation, the possibility of deterring future people, it becomes a big slurry in which the judge ultimately makes a decision.
Big picture. And we can talk about this further. The odds of Donald Trump going to prison at all, I think, are pretty slim. He would probably end up getting probation in some way.
He could be sent to prison and we can talk about that. But, really, what the judge is looking for are the circumstances of the case, the circumstances of the defendant, and then deciding what’s best for the community there. After that.
KATE BEDINGFIELD: I would just say from a political.
KASIE HUNT: Very quick last word–
KATE BEDINGFIELD: Just from a political standpoint, the pearl-clutching amongst Republicans about the idea that he would go to jail, from the people who were cheering Donald Trump’s “lock her up” chant in 2016 is a little rich.
(laughter).
I would say it’s a little rich.
KASIE HUNT: All right! I think we need some Bloody Marys all around.
Watch above via CNN This Morning.
