In contrast to its deep red neighbor South Carolina, North Carolina has evolved into a swing state.
North Carolina has a two-term Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, and President Joe Biden lost the state to former President Donald Trump by only about 1 percent in 2020. Organizers for the Biden campaign and Democratic strategists reportedly view North Carolina as the Trump state that Biden has the best shot at flipping in 2024, although Trump has had single-digit leads over Biden in many polls.
Trump's legal problems have been inspiring heated debates in North Carolina, where, according to Axios' Erin Doherty, participants in a recent Engagious/Sago focus group were "split over" whether Trump should go to jail after being convicted on 34 criminal counts in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr.'s hush money/falsified business records case.
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Doherty, in an article published on June 14, reports, "It's unlikely that Trump will receive a lengthy prison sentence, but some North Carolina swing voters fear that jailing the presumptive GOP presidential nominee would cause chaos…. Six of the 12 North Carolina swing voters interviewed — who said they voted for Joe Biden in 2020 after voting for Trump in 2016 — said the former president should serve time in prison."
Justice Juan Merchan set Thursday, July 11 — only four days before the start of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee — as the sentencing date.
Lindsey M., a 42-year-old Raleigh resident, told the focus group, "He committed a crime, and he should pay the same time that any other American would have to pay in that same situation."
But Michelle C., a 55-year-old resident of Candler, North Carolina, fears the possibility of violence and unrest if Merchan sentences Trump to incarceration.
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Michelle argued, "That's going to do nothing but make him a martyr for his cause or incite even more violence. It's just going to do nothing but make his base more riled up and ready to go."
Kyle R., a 38-year-old Charlotte resident, told the focus group that he believes jailing Trump would be "destructive to the cohesion of America and public opinion, and it looks bad."
Kyle added, "It muddies the waters, even more so than they already are."
But Sean R., a 46-year-old Hickory, North Carolina resident, warned that Trump's behavior is making the United States look bad to other countries.
Sean warned, "This is a former president of the United States. He held the office for four years, let's not forget that. Him acting the way he is, the way he speaks — we're not the only country on this planet. Everyone else is listening, and he's treating it like another episode of 'The Apprentice.' And this is our future."
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Read Axios' full report at this link.
