'More confirmation of how unfit he is': Moderates turned off by Trump’s felony convictions

08 June 2024

The election will likely come down to a few ten thousand moderate voters across a handful of swing states. And former President Donald Trump so far is not making any efforts to court them.

That's according to The Bulwark publisher Sarah Longwell, who is also the executive director of the group Republican Voters Against Trump. She told Politico in a recent report that a focus group she conducted with Republicans who voted for Trump both in 2016 and 2020 was educational for her in showing how the ex-president's felony convictions were a bridge too far.

"[A] lot of these sort of suburban swing voters will look at Trump and say ‘I can’t do it.’ Especially with the conviction — and not just the conviction, but January 6," she said. Longwell added that the focus group saw the 34 felony convictions handed down by a New York jury last week "as just more confirmation of how unfit he is."

"Trump has not figured out how to appeal to more center-right voters, and I think he doesn’t think he has to," Longwell said. "I think he thinks that frustration with Biden and the economy is enough to sort of drive these college-educated suburban swing voters back to him."

So far, the former president plans to double down on his rhetoric challenging the validity of efforts to hold him accountable in the criminal justice system. He insists that "our whole country is being rigged" and that if his 34 convictions aren't overturned on appeal, "we are not going to have a country anymore."

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska), who is considered one of the more moderate members of the House Republican Conference, urged that Trump "should be conscious" of how moderate voters would perceive a candidate who has been found guilty of 34 felonies.

"Ninety percent already have their mind made [up], but that 10 percent is important," Bacon told Politico.

Other Republicans, however, want the former president to stick to his guns when talking about his felony convictions. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-South Carolina) argued that if Judge Juan Merchan opted to incarcerate the former president during his July 11 sentencing hearing, it would be politically beneficial for Trump.

"People know what they’re doing to him is wrong. Let him keep doing that," Norman said. "Let him put him in jail. See how that works out."

However, Arizona GOP strategist Barrett Marson said Trump would benefit from leaving the verdict aside and appealing to the center. He said it was "incumbent" on Trump to give voters a "reason" to show up for him, saying moderates want to know "how you are going to bring down gas prices or bring down interest rates or bring down inflation."

Click here to read Politico's report in full.

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