Trump’s Criminal Conviction Could Define the First Debate

When President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump meet on Thursday night in Atlanta for their first 2024 debate, they will be joined by a very large elephant in the debate hall:

Make no mistake about it: There appear to be real political stakes here — particularly among the much-coveted independent and swing voters who may effectively decide the election — so the candidates’ approach to the subject will be worth watching closely. According to polling data, for instance, 21 percent of independents said that Trump’s conviction made them less likely to support him and that it would be an important factor in their vote.

As the person who was convicted, Trump’s options are naturally limited. His approach thus far has been to loudly complain and to— falsely — that he was railroaded by a rigged political prosecution that was engineered by Biden and the Justice Department. One big question headed into the debate, of course, is how aggressively Trump will push this line and how forcefully and effectively Biden — and perhaps even the moderators themselves — will address it.

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