Lara Trump delivers puzzling departure from RNC co-chair on father-in-law’s potential incarceration

When a Manhattan jury found former President Donald Trump guilty on 34 criminal counts in his hush money/falsified business records trial, Justice Juan Merchan set Thursday, July 11 as the sentencing date. The 2024 Republican National Convention is scheduled to begin in Milwaukee only four days later.

It remains to be seen what type of sentence Merchan will impose; the options include home detention, jail or prison, probation, community service, and fines. But when Republican National Committee (RNC) Co-Chair Lara Trump made a Wednesday, June 19 appearance on the right-wing Real America's Voice, she made it clear that her father-in-law will receive the GOP's 2024 presidential nomination regardless of where he is during the convention — even if he is incarcerated.

Host Terrance Bates asked Lara Trump what the RNC will do if Merchan sentences him to prison, and she responded, "Here's the bottom line: It doesn't matter whether Donald Trump is in Trump Tower, Mar-a-Lago, or anywhere else they may try to put him."

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The New Republic's Hafiz Rashid notes that Lara Trump's declaration was a "departure from" what RNC Chairman Michael Whaley said only a day earlier on June 18.

Whatley, that day, told far-right Newsmax, "We fully expect that he is going to be in Milwaukee and able to accept his nomination."

But Lara Trump, on Real America's Voice, told Bates that regardless of whether or not her father-in-law is physically president in Milwaukee during the convention, he will officially receive the nomination.

Rashid notes, "Whether Trump wants to be (in Milwaukee) is another story. After trashing the city last week in a meeting with House Republicans, Trump immediately attempted to clarify his words and made things worse. This week, he attempted to deny making the comments at all, even after multiple people at the meeting had already confirmed it."

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Rashid adds, "But given the choice, it's a safe bet that Trump would much prefer a convention hall full of supporters to a New York correctional facility."

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Read The New Republic's full article at this link.