This Conservative Columnist Has a Strange Theory About Trump and Pence, and She May Be Right

Conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin said Sunday on MSNBC that she thinks Donald Trump will resign with 10 minutes left in his presidency, leaving the job to VP Mike Pence, who would protect the president from indictments by pardoning him. It sounds like a convoluted theory, but then again, so does the rest of the news that’s come out since 2016.

Rubin’s prediction comes from recent revelations in the Mueller investigation, painting Trump as complicit in felony violations of campaign finance laws. While she agrees Democrats would be right to try, Rubin thinks attempting to impeach Trump would be futile, as it would only divide the country further: “You wouldn’t be able to remove him, and it would infuriate a good chunk of the American people,” Rubin said. “So what do you do if you really are caught in that position where there’s overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing, of criminal wrongdoing?”

It’s an unfortunately valid point. Senators like Rand Paul are constantly deflecting claims about Trump’s illegal activity, and Rubin was sure to bring that up. In an interview with Meet the Press, Paul said, “I don’t see what’s illegal about trying to build a hotel in Russia. This is pretty common and I see no problem with it.” With such deep-seated, ignorant support like this in the government, indicting Trump would become that much more grueling. To avoid that, many predict Mueller will wait to send Trump his indictments until after he leaves office—that way, there’s no question about how to send a sitting president to jail for the rest of his life.

The only question then becomes how to send a rich, former president to jail for the rest of his life, which shouldn’t be as difficult. If he’s pardoned by Vice President Skeletor, that’s another story entirely. This administration is already the most blatantly corrupt in U.S. history, but Rubin’s predicted scenario would be a new level.

We may be heading towards a future where Trump doesn’t see a shred of justice for what he’s done; hopefully the incoming Democratic House, and the special counsel, are considering that.

Check out the clip of Rubin’s comments over at Newsweek.