Ivanka Trump can’t run for office while she’s running from the law

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For quite awhile now, the media has been abuzz with speculation that Ivanka Trump would run for office somewhere for something. Jared Kushner and Ivanka have recently fanned the rumor flame by buying land in Florida, with speculation now centered around Ivanka running for one of Florida’s senate seats and possibly replacing Marco Rubio. There’s only one problem with all this speculation — it’s assuming Ivanka doesn’t end up in jail.

We need to remember that Ivanka and her bone-headed older brothers have been Trump Organization executives for years. Not only have they all likely been privy to the various criminal acts of the Trump Organization, they’ve probably all committed criminal acts for the Trump Organization. Even if Donald Trump pardons Ivanka, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office (and other state-level prosecutors) can file charges against Ivanka and she could face criminal sentencing and even jail time.

None of this portends success for an Ivanka senate run, even in Florida. But even if Ivanka remains unscathed by criminal charges, it isn’t clear that voters really like Ivanka. Yes, her father is a cult figure who has a stranglehold on the Republican party, but even when Trump has endorsed politicians rather vociferously, they haven’t always done too well. Trump’s support has even hurt some Republican candidates, and Republican voter turnout hasn’t been great when Trump hasn’t been on the ballot.

One final thing to consider is that even Donald Trump’s support might wane sufficiently by the time Ivanka could run for senate (or governor or whatever) that he wouldn’t give her an appreciable boost in support. None of this is to say that we shouldn’t be on the lookout for an Ivanka run, but rather that the media hype over her potential run is probably overblown. The same is true for really any of Trump’s three eldest children — Eric and Don Jr., who are broadly stupider and less polished than Ivanka, would have as hard or even a harder time than Ivanka at winning a seat in public office.

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