It’s no secret that, among Donald Trump’s children, Ivanka is the President’s favorite. And he’s been floating the idea that she should be president.
During a New Hampshire campaign rally on Friday night where he hurled insults at his opponents, Trump tore into Kamala Harris, suggesting the California senator is not the kind of woman who should make history as the first female president.
That honor should be reserved for his own daughter, Ivanka Trump, he said.
“I want to see the first woman president also, but I don’t want to see the first woman president get into the position the way [Harris] would do it, and she’s not competent, she’s not competent,” he said, mocking Harris’ failed presidential bid and her subsequent nomination as vice president.
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“They’re all saying, ‘We want Ivanka!’” he continued, pointing to supporters near the stage, who stood shoulder to shoulder and largely eschewed masks. Cheers erupted. “I don’t blame them.”
President Ivanka? Don’t laugh. an outrageous Ivanka Trump rumor is spreading among D.C. Republicans. Here’s why there could be something to it.
Trump is desperately trying to avoid federal charges when he leaves office —presuming he actually leaves office. There are only two possible ways for him to stay out of prison:
He needs to resign from office, allowing his vice president to be sworn in. That new president is the only human being who can realistically, legally and legitimately pardon Trump. It’s the Nixon/Ford scenario of 1974. Nothing else will do the trick.
Now, there’s obviously the nightmare scenario in which Trump is re-elected next year, forestalling an indictment. That still doesn’t get him off the hook, though. Trump can’t legitimately pardon himself, knowing that even this Supreme Court would likely not permit such a preposterous move. If he thought he could do it himself, he probably would’ve done it already.
If Democrats win, the next Republican president has to wait until the 2024 election, but Trump could already be in prison by then. If Trump wants a foolproof escape hatch, it has to be a resignation followed by a pardon.
That’s where Ivanka comes in.
There’s a rumor that if Trump wins, he will fire Mike Pence and install Ivanka as vice president.
Despite Pence’s appearance of groveling loyalty, Trump might want to bring the vice presidency into the family in order to secure a pardon no matter what — remember, the Trump crime family is all about Mafia-style omertà and unquestioning loyalty.
But even if he loses, Trump may try to invalidate the 2020 election and have the supreme court decide the result on his favor —and he’s already starting to lay the groundwork for such a plot.
We need to prepare ourselves for the possibility that Trump will stop at nothing to keep himself out of prison. Even a traditional, by-the-book Trump re-election would only be a temporary measure. Some are predicting New York will step in to slap him with state charges.
The only way Trump ever gets prosecuted for his galactic-scale series of potential crimes is via a Democratic administration’s attorney general. The only way he avoids those charges is through a pardon or the next president’s refusal to prosecute. I don’t believe Trump plans to leave his fortunes to the tender mercies of a Biden-Harris administration. And I don’t believe he trusts anyone outside his own family to pardon him.
