Donald Trump gets to sidestep the consequences of his conviction. Most people with criminal records don’t

After he was wrongfully convicted the first time, D’Juan Collins was branded a “felon” in the eyes of the law.

That label impacts “everything,” says Collins, a paralegal and advocate focused on mass incaceration at New York social justice organization VOCAL-NY.

“That label really paints a black eye, almost like I’m blacklisted from certain opportunities that other citizens would be able to have,” he tells The Independent.

“And it leaves me in a poverty state,” he says. “If I can’t get a job, if I can’t obtain suitable housing, then how do you expect me to survive and thrive in a society where we’re supposed to?”

But for former president Donald Trump – who can leverage his wealth, power and influence to sidestep the consequences of his white-collar crimes that threatened 2016 elections – that “felon” label is helping him rake in millions of dollars.

For any other person with 34 felony convictions, being branded a “felon” for life could threaten access to jobs, housing, healthcare, childcare and the ability to vote, let alone a path to the presidency.

Trump, through his fundraising campaign, even branded himself a “convicted felon” on June 1, two days after he was convicted in his New York hush money trial, and then again on June 7: “THEY MADE ME A POLITICAL PRISONER. A CONVICTED FELON!”

“How’s that even possible?” Collins says. “Why isn’t a president receiving those same limitations?”

In statements and press releases supporting President Joe Biden and other Democratic officials, the Democratic National Committee has called Trump a “convicted felon” and a “criminal” dozens of times since the verdict.

The DNC also bought up billboards in Phoenix written in English and in Spanish reading “Trump already attacked Arizona’s