CGTN Europe interviews Rina Shah, Political Strategist and Commentator, and former Senior Presidential Campaign Adviser
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00:00 There's been polarizing reactions to the historic conviction of Donald Trump in New York
00:05 Where a jury found the former US president guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records
00:12 President Joe Biden says the verdict showed no one is above the law
00:16 While Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson called it a shameful day
00:21 Trump who labeled the trial a disgrace will be sentenced in July. He says he plans to appeal
00:27 This is the first time a former or serving US president has been convicted of a crime
00:34 Well for more on this we can now speak to Rena Shah a US political strategist and commentator
00:41 Thank you so much for joining us Rena. So Trump is planning to appeal. So then what does that mean?
00:46 Legally, does that mean his sentencing scheduled for July is not put on hold?
00:52 Well right now that sentencing is going to be happening four days ahead of the Republican National Convention
00:58 of course the Trump legal team will try to
01:02 Exhaust the process of appealing which the former president now a private citizen has every right to do
01:08 But the question becomes where in the timeline do these appeals have an impact?
01:14 So as of right now, we know that again Trump
01:18 It has the statuses that convicted felon and that means he cannot vote for himself in November
01:25 No convicted felon can vote in elections
01:28 But there is nothing in the US Constitution or on the books anywhere legally that prohibits him from
01:35 Taking the presidency should he win it in the election this November?
01:39 So it is truly uncharted legal territory
01:43 But one thing is for sure again Trump enjoyed that presumption of innocence until yesterday
01:49 When he was found guilty in a court of law by a jury of his peers
01:53 It's astonishing. It truly is the way you've explained it. He won't be able to vote himself
01:58 But he may well win the presidency is the Republican Party
02:04 Still prepared to stand behind a convicted felon though
02:09 At this very moment. It seems that Republican leadership is
02:13 Not going to move from the side of Trump
02:16 They are already claiming and continuing the playbook of messaging that they have employed for years now
02:21 Is that Democrats have weaponized the judiciary against Trump since he left the White House after losing the election in 2020?
02:29 But does that speak for all Republican voters?
02:33 And in fact, there's a great amount of polling out there that shows that if Trump were to have the status of convicted felon and
02:40 Appear on the ballot this November opposite Joe Biden that Joe Biden has a better chance of winning
02:46 I would now say though
02:48 2016 taught us that we should take all this polling with a grain of salt
02:52 So again, that's only polling but the question remains does the Republican Party want to make that difficult choice of moving forward?
03:00 Taking its chances with again in a battled candidate somebody that is going to be more
03:06 busy with fighting these legal battles versus
03:10 legislating doing the job of commander-in-chief
03:13 It is a very very tough question and this point in history this point in time is the defining moment
03:21 For the Republican Party for the next at least decade. It is a fateful decision that they will have to make come this July
03:30 How
03:31 How polarizing and politically tense could this get I mean we think about the January 6 insurrection
03:39 Could it come to that? Could we see actual violence instability on the streets?
03:46 There is always a chance for political violence to follow when there are such
03:53 decisions of such magnitude something so a historical if you will but let's not forget in 2020 and what happened on January 6
04:01 2021 and in the days
04:03 Leading up to that day is that former President Trump took to the bully pulpit and told his supporters
04:10 Indirect as well as in direct language that they should go challenge the results of that election at the Capitol
04:19 Now whether he will do another call to action like that today
04:23 We don't know political extremism has been on the rise in the United States and something
04:28 I am very worried about as a political professional
04:30 But I do believe that our institutions have shown that they can hold that they can weather such great
04:37 Moments in history and so I stand very confident about the rule of law. I stand very confident about our
04:45 Institutions and I stand confident that the American people writ large will push back and reject
04:51 Extremism and authoritarians who want to act like despots. Thank you so much for your views. Rena Shah is a US political strategist and
04:59 commentator