'Nightmare' scenario as GOP insiders fear Trump’s legal problems 'doom' 2024 hopes

Former President Donald Trump will have a complicated schedule in 2024, battling four criminal indictments and a variety of civil lawsuits while pursuing the GOP presidential nomination. And it's a nomination that he appears likely to receive: In poll after poll, Trump has huge double-digit Republican primary leads over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In an article published on December 8, the Daily Beast's Jake Lahut reports that behind closed doors, some GOP strategists fear committing to Trump as the nominee before knowing what the outcomes of his criminal trials will be.

"There's a scenario many Republicans are dreading: that one day in March 2024, they'll wake up to the news that Donald Trump has won enough delegates to secure the GOP presidential nomination," Lahut explains. "Then, days, weeks, or months later, one jury — or several — will render a verdict that handcuffs the Republican Party to the first convicted criminal ever to run for president as a major party nominee."

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Lahut continues, "Several Republican operatives and delegates who spoke to The Daily Beast relayed their increasing alarm that this nightmare will become a reality — potentially dooming the party's hopes of defeating President Joe Biden next November."

Interviews given on condition of anonymity can be incredibly informative, as the interviewees often say what they're really thinking but are afraid to say publicly.

A Republican National Committee (RNC) insider, quoted anonymously, told the Beast, "People need to wake up before we end up with (Trump) as our candidate, because we'll end up with Biden as our president. It's horrible. Somehow, he has us in this hole, and for no good reason, either."

Brad Coker, a Florida-based pollster, believes that possible convictions could be a turnoff for independent voters. The pollster told the Beast, "I think it would be decisive, at least with the popular vote…. A conviction on the documents, I think, is much more serious than anything related to January 6th or what he did challenging the election…. That's a little more Watergate-y."

READ MORE: The GOP's death cycle — and how the party turns fascist

The Daily Beast's full report is available at this link (subscription required).