Bernie’s Weekly Q&A (6/7)

The New York trial aftermath, political violence, the upcoming debates, and more!

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Let’s get started:

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Do you think [Trump’s New York trial] judge has any sense of what could happen were he to sentence Trump to jail time? Is he dumb enough to test that? —lensattic

As I said earlier, I don’t believe the judge will impose jail time. And while hypothetically, the judge should not take into account what might happen outside his courtroom — what should he do if someone convicted really did deserve time behind bars … not sentence him fearing a riot? — in this case, where the felony was of the lowest level — I think it would be wise for a judge to ask himself if a jail sentence were really worth it.

Trump jumped into the Biden challenge for the debates. I thought Biden handled him pretty well in the previous ones. Now Biden has home field advantage with the format he wanted. Were you guys' surprised Trump jumped right into this format? —Tim H.

From John: Hi Tim. I was more surprised that Biden agreed to debates than I was that Trump agreed to Biden’s debate format. I think Trump sees himself as the superior talker, I don’t think he’ll feel obligated to abide by the debate rules, and I think his aim will be to reduce Biden to a blithering old fool. It didn’t work last time, but maybe it will this time. Biden’s four years older, and clearly not as astute.

From Bernie: When you say you’ll debate “anywhere, anytime” you don’t have much room for haggling over the format. Trump had no choice but to go all in. The format won’t do him in. His mouth might.

Let's say that Trump's conviction does cost him the election and Trump wins an appeal after the election and is no longer a convicted felon. Is there any chance that Bragg or the judge could have some disciplinary consequences for maybe like election interference? — Pymm W.

No. Mistakes may have been made but they’re not subject to disciplinary action. That said, you raise a very important point in your hypothetical scenario. What if Biden ekes out a win and after the election the appellate court throws out the conviction? If you think MAGA has been yelling about “stolen elections” … just wait.

If Trump was right about Russian collusion being fabricated, this latest conviction being a political hit job, and the Obama administration spying on his campaign, what else could he be right about? You don’t have to like the man to know that he has been treated very unfairly and that the risk of four more years with these jokers isn’t worth the risk of sitting this one out as a voter. All hands on deck, please. — Thomas C.