Rachel Maddow just nailed it

| 9:31 pm EST January 11, 2021
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Donald Trump’s presidency is over, his life is basically over, and at this point it’s up to him how badly he wants to lose. It’s anyone’s guess as to what he ultimately chooses. But there is one possibility on the table that a lot of people have mistakenly ruled out: strategic resignation.

Rachel Maddow used her show tonight to spell out precisely why this is a possibility. The past week has made clear that Donald Trump will be hit with federal criminal charges for inciting a domestic terrorist attack and getting a police officer murdered. If Trump tries to pardon himself, it’ll likely get struck down in court. But if Trump resigns and has Mike Pence pardon him, that pardon would be far more likely to hold up in court.

For that reason alone, we have to at least consider the possibility that Trump strategically resigns. And when you consider what a weasel Mike Pence is, we wouldn’t put it past him to pardon Trump in the end. In any case, even if Trump gets a federal pardon from Pence, Trump is still facing state criminal charges in New York, which can’t be pardoned by any president.