Trump, An Adjudicated Rapist Who Attempted A Coup On Jan. 6, Clinches GOP Nomination

Donald Trump on Tuesday won enough delegates in the four states holding primary elections to lock up the Republican presidential nomination, meaning the party will now head into the November general election with an adjudicated rapist and, by then, potentially a convicted felon at the top of its ticket.

The coup-attempting former president needed 140 more delegates to win 1,215 ― a majority of those available in the GOP primary contests ― after a big win over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Super Tuesday last week. She was his last rival in the race, and she dropped out the next morning.

The Republican National Committee at its Friday meeting in Houston already declared Trump the presumptive nominee and installed fellow election denier Michael Whatley as its new chairman and Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as vice chair, both at Trump’s request.

The first trial on Trump’s four criminal indictments is scheduled to begin March 25 in New York City on charges that he falsified business records to hide payments to silence a porn star and a Playboy model just ahead of the 2016 election to suppress claims that he had had extramarital affairs with them.

A second trial, based on Trump’s attempt to remain in power despite his 2020 election loss, culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by a mob of his followers, could begin in federal court in Washington, D.C., between August and October, depending on the timing of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on his claim that he is immune from prosecution for his actions while president.

No trial date has yet been set on the federal charges over his refusal to turn over and attempts to hide secret documents that he took with him to his South Florida country club upon