A CNN host provided a bizarre explanation on Saturday for why so many Republicans are entering the contest to challenge Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

During the segment, Michael Smerconish suggested that the expanding GOP field hopes that Democratic prosecutors in New York, Georgia, and elsewhere are successful in prosecuting the former president, which could force him out of the race or, at the very least, render him politically unviable.

“Why are so many Republican candidates now challenging Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination?” he asked during his “Smerconish” show segment.

Potential criminal indictments, he answered his own query.

Mediaite further reported:

The majority of candidates, including Trump allies such as Vivek Ramaswamy and DeSantis, have spoken out against “Soros DAs” across the country. These are Democratic prosecutors, such as Alvin Bragg, who were funded in part or in whole by organizations linked to billionaire leftist activist and major donor George Soros.

Smerconish theorized, however, that the candidates in the primary may be hoping or depending on the numerous criminal investigations and pending prosecutions against Trump to lock him up and render him incapable of running for office, thereby leaving the field and the party to those who remain.

“Why are so many Republican candidates now challenging Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination? Think about it. He’s a former president, essentially a GOP incumbent who’s consistently polling around 50% of the GOP vote in the polls,” Smerconish began.

“And we learned in 2016 that given the hardcore support that Trump enjoys from some, he’s the beneficiary of a large field. Remember, in that cycle, there were so many running that debates, they had a kids table,” he added.

“This time Trump announced first and then Nikki Haley and then Vivek Ramaswamy, Larry Elder, Asa Hutchinson, Tim Scott, and now Ron DeSantis, who, by the way, is only 44 years old. By Biden-Trump standards, he’s got three more decades to run for president,” the CNN host continued.

“So why run now? Why get into the steel cage with a wrestler who always carries a foreign object? Mike Pence said he’ll soon make a decision. Chris Christie sure sounds like a candidate. Sununu might get in. Even Glenn Youngkin, according to Axios, is taking a second look,” he said.

“So what’s going on? Maybe that they don’t think they’ll have to beat Trump, that that work will be done by a combination of Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis, Jack Smith, and Merrick Garland,” he noted.

In conclusion, he questioned whether Trump’s imprisonment would terminate President Joe Biden’s 2024 chances.

“And if they’re right and Trump isn’t the candidate, does that put more pressure on President Biden to step aside, where in the face of polling showing that even Democrats want a change in their ticket, his retort is to suggest that he alone can defeat Donald Trump?” he asked.

More on this story via Conservative Brief:

One case that may soon change is an investigation into alleged 2020 election malfeasance being conducted by Willis, the Fulton County, Ga., district attorney. CONTINUE READING…