CNN host Chris Wallace pressed Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), on whether the party would have an issue with nominating a candidate who is under federal indictment or a convicted felon in 2024.
“Let me ask you a question. Do you have any problem with the Republican Party nominating somebody who’s under federal indictment?” Wallace asked McDaniel on a recent episode of his “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” talk show on the network.
“I think the presumption of innocence stands. And I think there’s a lot of Republicans who are very troubled,” McDaniel responded. “At the end of the day, Chris, though, it’s not up to me. It’s up to the voters. They’re going to make their decision. They’re going to hear this and they’re going to decide if this is an issue for them come November or come the primary process.”
Wallace then asked, “do you have any problem with the Republican Party nominating a convicted felon?”
“That’s hypothetical,” the party chairwoman said. “We’re not even close to that. So I don’t think we’re even there.”
McDaniel went on to say it was a “trap” for Republicans to wonder “what if this happens?”
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Earlier this summer, Trump was indicted in Miami over his handling of classified documents after he vacated the White House, which federal prosecutors allege put national security at risk. He pleaded not guilty.
The former president remains the front-runner for the GOP nomination in 2024 and has dismissed his federal indictment as a political ploy by President Biden’s Justice Department to stop him from winning the 2024 election.
McDaniel and the RNC next month will hold the first GOP debate, which Trump has not committed to participating in, citing his lead in most national polls and what he has described as a “hostile” relationship with Fox News, the network carrying the debate.