HOPE SMITH
managing editor
hope.smith393@my.tccd.edu

The indictment of Former President Donald Trump has students talking about their thoughts, opinions, and predictions on Trump and the upcoming election.

NE student Nathan Schoeber said that he is unsure about the current situation regarding the indictment but he thinks Trump will be the next republican candidate.

“I’m fairly big into the money side of things, and seeing Biden just throw literal trillions of dollars at basically anything—more than likely he’ll [Trump] get elected,” he said. 

Schoeber said that it’s likely that Trump will be the next republican candidate. 

“There’s a very good likelihood that he would be, just because of the fact that , first off, he’s already been president,” he said. “And while yes, a lot of people have shown dislike in him, there’s been far more people that have shown that they do like him as a person, not just the party.”

Since the indictment, what has transpired is a series of investigations into the money issued out through falsified business records, ultimately leading to a 34-felony count of falsifying business records in the first degree on Tuesday.

Rep. Marc Veasey of the 33 district in Texas for Congress said that in regards to the indictment, the law is to be applied if necessary and people are sworn to uphold it.

“If he didn’t do anything wrong, shouldn’t have anything to worry about,” he said. “But you know, we are a nation of laws and if the rule of law is going to apply, we have a constitution that people are sworn to uphold and they are to abide by.” 

Having said that, he does think Trump has a chance at being the Republican nominee in the upcoming 2024 election.

“I think he’ll probably be the nominee. It’ll likely be divisive, I think it’ll be nasty,” he said.

NE student David Fitzgerald said Trump himself doesn’t have the greatest reputation.

“He’s very out there and attention grabbing,” he said. “But as a political view of him, it’s not that great. I don’t like mudslinging. I think that’s like a personal thing for him that he likes to do.”

Fitzgerald said that in regards to the indictment if Trump had done something that there should be repercussions. 

“I think that if he did something wrong, it’ll obviously be shown and he should be punished for it,” he said. “Because corruption in politics shouldn’t be a thing in my opinion. Even though obviously it exists and has existed since the second president because I don’t believe that George Washington was ever corrupt.” 

Fitzgerald is unsure of the election, but he knows he wants someone in office who will be in the best interest of the country.

“I have no idea if the current president is going to be running again, or what’s going to happen with other candidates,” he said. “I just hope there’s somebody that actually cares about people and isn’t just like, ‘Hey, we don’t like those people.’” 

TR student Sunny Whidden says Trump’s presidency was built on hate, that his feelings towards minorities like Muslim people, queer people and women were hateful.

Looking towards the future, she says there will likely be a party split with the republicans against Gov. Ron DeSantis and Trump. 

“I think it may be a close race between them because I feel while Trump is popular, still, some of his previous supporters have moved on and caught on to his games,” she said.