A Republican state representative in Missouri has proposed legislation that would allow a person who pleaded guilty to or was convicted of a felony to serve in public office – and has named it after the president-elect, who has a felony record.
The “Donald J. Trump Election Qualification Act,” introduced by state Representative Michael Davis, would repeal a 2015 Missouri law that prevents a person with a felony from becoming a candidate in a local or statewide election.
It would allow a person with a felony record to run for office “if otherwise qualified.”
The legislation takes an obvious page from Trump’s book. He was convicted of multiple felonies, yet is now America’s president-elect.
“A lot of people don’t don’t think about the fact that Donald Trump, if he met all the other requirements, if he was a Missouri resident, could not run for state representative or state Senate,” Davis told the Missouri Independent.
“He would be precluded from running for these offices but was able to be re-elected president of the United States. So I think that at least causes people to start thinking about the issue a little more than they might otherwise,” Davis added.
Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in New York in May for falsifying business records for misrepresenting hush-money payments that were made to an adult film star before the 2016 presidential election.
“I believe that we should punish those who do wrong, but once they’ve completed the terms of their sentence, we should allow individuals to reintegrate into society,” Davis told Fox2Now.
“They are citizens. They have the ability to work and pay taxes, and one of the aspects of being a citizen is being represented by your government and deciding who should represent you,” he added.
