“Real Time” host Bill Maher agonized over whether former President Trump should go to prison following his conviction this week.
“The big question is: Will he go to prison? Will this judge dare to do that? And should he?” Maher asked during a panel discussion Friday night.
“I mean, I’ve heard some people say that if his name wasn’t Donald Trump, he’d definitely go to prison. But to send a former president of the United States to prison, I don’t know what that is. That’s what I’m asking,” Maher continued.
Biden scoffs at idea he’s ‘pulling strings’ in Trump prosecution: ‘I didn’t know I had that much power’
Bill Maher said “MAGA people will be outraged” if former President Trump is convicted in New York and sent to prison. (Screenshot/HBO)
Former Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) responded by predicting that Trump won’t go to prison, based on his conviction history for similar crimes in Manhattan.
David Axelrod, an adviser to former President Obama, has expressed reluctance to send leading Republican candidates to prison.
“Look, a lot of people in my tribe hate me for saying this, but, yeah, I’m not comfortable with putting a former president in jail, especially for something like this,” Axelrod told Maher. “To me, that’s concerning for the country, and I would be absolutely shocked if this judge sentenced him to prison for this.”
“I mean, the MAGA people are going to be in a frenzy,” Maher said. “I don’t know if that’s going to be a reason to do something or not, but they’re going to be in a frenzy.”
‘It’s completely insane’: Americans react to Trump’s shocking guilty verdict in New York trial
Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower on Thursday, May 30, 2024, after being convicted of 34 counts of first-degree falsifying business records. (Felipe Ramares for Fox News Digital)
The HBO star then worried that a “civil war” — specifically a “race war” — could break out if Trump is jailed, and blamed his supporters for resenting the black district attorney and Hispanic judge for starting it.
“The civil war in this country, unfortunately, is going to be a race war,” Maher said. “That’s the sad truth of this country. And if he goes to prison, the first thing his supporters are going to say is, ‘Yeah, that’s how it is.’ A black district attorney. You know, all the district attorneys are black. The judges are not white. That’s the reality.”
WATCH: Trump supporters rally in midtown Manhattan, slam justice system after felony convictions: ‘Apparently’
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks during a press conference in New York on May 30, 2024, following the conviction in the criminal trial of former US President Donald Trump, who was charged with falsifying business records to hide money paid to silence porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid (Reuters)
Click here to get the FOX News app
On Thursday, Trump was found guilty of all 34 charges in his New York trial for falsifying business records – a verdict his lawyers have vowed to challenge.
Trump’s defenders condemned the guilty verdictHe accused Democrats of using the law to try to defeat Trump in the November presidential election.
