前总统唐纳德·特朗普专家告诉ABC新闻，周四被曼哈顿地区检察官起诉的奥巴马仍然可以当选总统——即使他被判有罪。但是专家说，有一些实际的原因会使它成为一个挑战。
特朗普最近在年度保守派政治行动会议上表示，他将“绝对”继续比赛即使他被刑事起诉。
“我甚至不会考虑离开，”特朗普周六在演讲前告诉记者。“这可能会提高我的数字。”
特朗普否认有不当行为，并将调查描述为针对他的“政治迫害”的一部分。
美国宪法没有将无犯罪记录列为总统的一项资格。该法案规定，只有年满35岁、在美国居住了14年的美国公民才能竞选总统。
宪法专家还告诉ABC新闻，最高法院以前的裁决认为，国会不能增加总统办公室的资格。此外，一个州不能禁止被起诉或定罪的重罪犯竞选联邦公职。
ABC新闻法律分析师、卡多佐法学院教授凯特·肖(Kate Shaw)说:“有些人很惊讶地得知，宪法没有禁止重罪犯竞选总统，但事实上并没有这样的限制。”
“因为第22修正案，个人不可能两次当选总统，”肖说。“但宪法中没有任何规定剥夺被判有罪的个人竞选或担任总统的资格。”
肖说，虽然监禁“可能会使竞选活动变得困难，如果不是不可能的话”，但障碍将是“实际问题，而不是法律问题。”
Hofstra大学的宪法教授James Sampler告诉ABC新闻，宪法设定了最低要求，但将其余的留给了选民。
“这取决于人们的智慧，以确定一个人不适合办公室，”采样器说。“因此，特朗普总统在2024年寻求职位时面临的最根本障碍是任何人都有的障碍，但他以一种不同的、更明显的方式拥有它——这向选民证明，个人应该获得这一职位。”
采样器说，如果特朗普被起诉或定罪，并被法律禁止出国旅行，那将对他在全国旅行和竞选的能力施加实际限制，但这不会禁止他竞选。
采样器还指出了选举制度中的一个讽刺，许多州禁止被定罪的重罪犯投票。根据判刑项目倡导组织，48个州的法律禁止犯有重罪的人投票。
“对于一个表面上重视民主参与和平等的国家来说，这是悲伤的一天，被判重罪的个人甚至可以被禁止作为选民参与我们的民主，但被判重罪的总统仍然被允许，”他说。
洛约拉法学院选举法教授杰西卡·莱文森对此表示同意。
“你可以想象美国总统没有被取消总统资格的情况...但不能为自己投票，”莱文森告诉美国广播公司新闻。
“有趣的是，你必须出生在这里，必须在这里生活一定的时间...所有这些都有点像是在暗示我们希望你们忠于我们的国家，”莱文森说。“但你可能被判犯有反对我们国家的罪行，但仍能担任总统。”
Trump could still be elected president despite indictment, experts say
Former President Donald Trump, who was indicted by the Manhattan district attorney on Thursday, can still be elected president -- even if he is convicted -- experts tell ABC News. But there are practical reasons that could make it a challenge, experts say.
Trump said recently at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference that he would "absolutely" stay in the race for president even if he were to be criminally indicted.
"I wouldn't even think about leaving," Trump told reporters ahead of his speech on Saturday. "Probably it will enhance my numbers."
Trump has denied wrongdoing and has characterized the probe as part of a "witch hunt" against him.
The U.S. Constitution does not list the absence of a criminal record as a qualification for the presidency. It says only that natural born citizens who are at least 35 years old and have been a resident of the U.S. for 14 years can run for president.
Constitutional experts also told ABC News that previous Supreme Court rulings hold that Congress cannot add qualifications to the office of the president. In addition, a state cannot prohibit indicted or convicted felons from running for federal office.
"Some people are surprised to learn that there's no constitutional bar on a felon running for president, but there's no such bar," said Kate Shaw, ABC News legal analyst and professor at Cardozo School of Law.
"Because of the 22nd Amendment, the individual can't have been twice elected president previously," Shaw said. "But there's nothing in the Constitution disqualifying individuals convicted of crimes from running for or serving as president."
Shaw said that while incarceration "would presumably make campaigning difficult if not impossible," the impediment would be a "practical problem, not a legal one."
James Sampler, a constitutional law professor at Hofstra University, told ABC News that the Constitution sets the minimal requirements, but leaves the rest up to the voters.
"It depends on the wisdom of the people to determine that an individual is not fit for office," Sampler said. "So the most fundamental obstacle that President Trump has in seeking office in 2024 is the obstacle that anyone has, but he has it in a different and more pronounced way -- which is proving to the voters that the individual deserves the office."
If Trump were to be indicted or convicted and prevented by law from traveling out of state, Sampler said, that would impose a practical limitation on his ability to travel the country and campaign -- but it wouldn't prohibit him from running.
Sampler also pointed out an irony in the electoral system, in which many states bar convicted felons from voting. According to the Sentencing Project advocacy group, 48 states have laws that ban people with felony convictions from voting.
"It is a sad day for a country that ostensibly values democratic participation and equality, that individuals who've been convicted of a felony can be prohibited from participating even as voters in our democracy, but a president convicted of a felony is still allowed," he said.
Jessica Levinson, a professor of election law at Loyola Law School, agreed.
"You could conceivably have a situation where the president of the United States is not disqualified from being president ... but can't vote for himself," Levinson told ABC News.
"The interesting thing about the qualifications like you have to be born here, you have to live here for a certain amount of time ... all of that is kind of getting at the idea that we want you to be loyal to our country," Levinson said. "But you could conceivably be convicted of crimes against our country, and still be able to serve as president."
