'Warning signs abound' that Trump could go on new crime spree in 2024: analysis

Former President Donald Trump stands a very good chance of being sent to prison should he lose the 2024 presidential election.

And as David Graham writes in The Atlantic, that makes him potentially even more dangerous of a candidate than when he ran for president the first two times.

"A candidate who is running to potentially stay out of prison is a dangerous candidate," he argues. "He is not just running for his own ideology or pride; he’s running for his very freedom.

"That warps his incentives, making him more likely to employ demagogic tactics, less concerned about the way history might judge him, and more inclined to use every avenue possible to win the election — even if it means bending or breaking the law."

For examples of this, Graham points to countries such as Turkey, where President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has apparently been reluctant to ever relinquish power on the grounds that he would be jailed on corruption charges after leaving office.

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With this in mind, Graham thinks that, should Trump win in 2024, he will take actions aimed at preventing anyone from ever holding him accountable again.

"When a leader acts out of this kind of fear, he has incentives to take actions that don’t just help himself but that can corrupt government systems well past his own term in office — or, for that matter, in prison," he argues.

"Taking either Turkey or Egypt as a model for governance would be a tragedy for the United States, and warning signs abound, such as Trump’s demonstrated hatred of rule of law."