Former U.S President, Donald Trump has suggested that sending him to prison could trigger concerns of political violence around the United States presidential election on November 5.
In an interview aired Sunday on Fox News, the former president, and current Republican White House hopeful acknowledged the possibility of jail time following his historic criminal conviction in a hush money trial.
“I’m ok with it,” Trump said, but added he was “not sure the public would stand for it.”
“I think it would be tough for the public to take. You know at a certain point there’s a breaking point,” he said.
The warning will resonate in a country already concerned about the prospect of civil unrest and political harassment in the run-up to the November election.
Trump will now be running as a felon, and he has repeatedly refused to commit to accepting the result should he lose to President Joe Biden.
A New York jury on Thursday convicted Trump on all 34 felony charges of falsifying business records late in the 2016 presidential campaign to cover up a sex scandal involving adult film star Stormy Daniels.
It was the first criminal conviction of a former president in US history, and sentencing has been set for July 11 — days before the Republican National Convention that will formally anoint Trump as the party’s presidential nominee.
“They’re turning Donald Trump into a martyr,” Trump’s son Eric told Fox News.
Trump has said his legal team will appeal the hush money verdict.
Since it is a New York case, it would have to go through state appellate courts before it reaches the US Supreme Court.
Breaking her silence following Trump’s conviction, Stormy Daniels told British media the ex-president should be incarcerated.
Trump has continued to deny the sexual encounter, which prosecutors at his trial said occurred shortly after his wife Melania had given birth.
AFP