George Stephanopoulos Issues Stark Warning: "Do We Want a Convicted Felon as President?

ABC News host George Stephanopoulos urged viewers to confront the gravity of the upcoming presidential election, questioning whether the country should elect a convicted felon, Donald Trump, as president. Stephanopoulos cited Trump's recent conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records and other ongoing legal challenges.

ABC News host George Stephanopoulos issued a sobering warning on Sunday about the 2024 presidential election, raising concerns about the unprecedented nature of the race and its implications for American democracy.

"In 1774, John Adams said, 'representative government and trial by jury are the heart and lungs of liberty.' Two hundred-fifty years later, the heart and lungs of liberty are facing what may be the ultimate stress test," Stephanopoulos said during his show, "This Week."

Stephanopoulos highlighted the recent guilty verdict against Trump in the Manhattan criminal case, where a jury found him liable for falsifying business records. While acknowledging that other criminal cases against Trump were still pending, he posed a stark question to viewers:

"But for now, the New York jurors have already presented their fellow citizens with a choice: do we want to be represented, to be led for the first time in history by a convicted felon? That answer will come in November."

Stephanopoulos emphasized that Trump's criminal trial was an unprecedented event in American history. He pointed out that no other presidential candidate had ever faced such charges.

"No American president has faced hundreds of millions of dollars in fines for business fraud, defamation, and sexual abuse," Stephanopoulos added.

His warning echoed President Biden's recent remarks at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, where Biden cautioned reporters to take the election seriously and focus on the fundamental stakes involved.

"Move past the horse race numbers and the 'gotcha' moments and the distractions and the sideshows that have come to dominate and sensationalize our politics, and focus on what’s actually at stake," Biden said. "I think in your hearts, you know what's at stake. The stakes couldn’t be higher."

Stephanopoulos underscored the unique challenges facing the upcoming election. He warned that the bedrock tenets of democracy, such as the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power, were being tested in unprecedented ways.

"It’s all too easy to fall into reflexive habits, to treat this as a normal campaign, where both sides embrace the rule of law, where both sides are dedicated to a debate based on facts and the peaceful transfer of power. But that is not what’s happening this election year. Those bedrock tenets of democracy are being tested in a way we haven’t seen since the Civil War. It’s a test for the candidates, for those of us in the media, and for all of us as citizens," Stephanopoulos said.

In a heated exchange with Trump lawyer Will Scharf, Stephanopoulos challenged Scharf's claims of political motivation in the Manhattan case.

"There’s no evidence here of that," Stephanopoulos said, responding to Scharf's assertion that President Biden was involved in the prosecution. "Sir, there’s no – there’s not – I'm not going to let you continue to say that. There’s just zero evidence of that."

Stephanopoulos's warning served as a stark reminder of the critical importance of the 2024 presidential election and the need for voters to carefully consider the consequences of their choices.