A political scholar on Friday said it was unlikely the Republican Party would abandon Donald Trump as its presumptive presidential nominee.

The former president was convicted in an historic criminal case of falsifying business records.

Brian Wong, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and fellow at the Centre on Contemporary China and the World at the University of Hong Kong, said Trump retains strong support from his party.

He also said that Trump's conviction may affect independent voters in swing states, but he didn't think it would benefit his challenger, President Joe Biden, a great deal.

"There's no reason to think that Trump is therefore ineligible. And that's because the US Constitution has only three requirements when it comes to eligibility for candidacy," he said.

"One, the candidate must be at least 35 years old. Secondly, they must be a natural born US citizen. And thirdly, they must have lived in the US for at least 14 years. There's no stipulation that they must not have a criminal record. So this will not affect his nominal and technical eligibility to run as a candidate should the Republican National Convention decide that is indeed to be the case."