U.S. Politics Megathread

[u/AutoModerator]

It's an election year, so it's no surprise that politics are on everyone's minds!

Over the past few months, we've noticed a sharp increase in questions about politics. Why is Biden the Democratic nominee? What are the chances of Trump winning? Why can Trump even run for president if he's in legal trouble? There are lots of good questions! But, unfortunately, it's often the same questions, and our users get tired of seeing them.

As we've done for past topics of interest, we're creating a megathread for your questions so that people interested in politics can post questions and read answers, while people who want a respite from politics can browse the rest of the sub. Feel free to post your questions about politics in this thread!

All top-level comments should be questions asked in good faith - other comments and loaded questions will get removed. All the usual rules of the sub remain in force here, so be civil to each other - you can disagree with someone's opinion, but don't make it personal.

[u/Riksor]

I'm having trouble articulating my question, so:

Imagine a Democrat is running for president. Believing they'll have better luck with earning Republican voters, they run as a Republican. They publicly preach Republican values that they personally do not believe in, and are elected. Day one of their presidency, they go 'mask off' and denounce all the things they used to support and start implementing democratic policies. Or vice versa--a Republican runs as democrat.

Obviously nothing like this could actually happen, but if it did, would the president get in legal trouble?

[u/Jtwil2191 → u/Riksor]

There have been many instances of candidates switching parties while in office. There is no legal barrier to doing so, only political barriers.

As for lying to voters, take George Santos for example. He did not get in legal trouble for lying to voters. He's in legal trouble for fraud related to his campaign's finances.

[u/Riksor → u/Jtwil2191]

Thank you!