Trump’s campaign policies led to presidential victory despite felonies — analysts

Former U.S. President and President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign that centered on employment, immigration, and inflation may have been key factors that led to his win in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Elections.

According to a "24 Oras" report by JP Soriano, Trump’s existing cases were not hindrances to winning  the election as US voters focused on his campaign messages.

“Ang gusto talaga nila ay kung ano ba yung mensahe ni Trump, which is secured border which translates yung sa immigration policies niya, also the economy,” said Far Eastern University Institute of Arts and Sciences Associate Dean Francis Esteban.

(What they really liked about Trump’s message was the secured border which translates to his immigration policies and also the economy.)

“Donald Trump won because he tapped into a lot of fear of the future and a great deal of dissatisfaction with the status quo, much more so than the average person thought or expected. The dissatisfaction really was centered less on immigration and more on inflation, as it turns out,” said Kevin Kellems, a veteran analyst who previously served in the Bush Administration at the White House and Department of Defense.

Trump’s victory in the 2024 election made history as he would be the first convicted felon who will be serving as the U.S. President.

Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies for forging documents to cover up hush-money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 to keep her from disclosing an alleged sexual encounter in 2006, for which he was supposed to be sentenced on November 26.

He also has existing cases for allegedly calling the Georgia Secretary of State to reverse his loss in 2020 against US President Joe Biden. A case was also filed against Trump for allegedly calling his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 in an attempt to overturn his loss in the 2020 Presidential Elections.

Due to his current win, Reuters reported that the U.S. Department of Justice is now looking into gradually closing off the cases due to an existing policy that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.

“Malaki ang supervision ng Presidente ng United States sa federal law observance. Isa yun sa mga functions niya as Chief Executive, so doon pa lang malaki na yung impluwensya. Sa batas ng United States, kung ikaw ay isang sitting President, hindi ka pwedeng makulong. Hindi ka pwedeng makasuhan, makulong o humarap sa anumang criminal cases or whatever you have there. So sa madaling sabi, nakatakas siya dun,” said Esteban.

(The President of the United States plays a big role in federal law observance. That is one of his functions as Chief Executives, so just from that he already has a big influence. The law of the United States mandates that sitting Presidents cannot be detained. You cannot be charged or put on trial for any criminal cases. So, in other words, he was able to escape that.) — Jiselle Anne Casucian/BAP, GMA Integrated News