A Republican state representative in Missouri has proposed legislation that would allow a person who has pleaded guilty or been convicted of a felony to serve in public office, and he 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 prohibits people with felony convictions from running in local or statewide elections.
It would allow a convicted felon to run for office “if otherwise qualified.”
The legislation is clearly modelled after Trump’s approach. He was convicted of several felonies but 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,” said Davis to the Missouri Independent.
“He would be barred from running for these positions but was re-elected President of the United States. So I believe that causes people to think about the issue a little more than they would otherwise,” Davis said.
Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in New York in May for falsifying business records and misrepresenting hush-money payments made to an adult film star prior to 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 Fox 2 Now.
“They’re citizens. They can work and pay taxes, and one of the benefits of being a citizen is being represented by your government and choosing who will represent you,” he added.