Several leaders in the US Republican Party, including candidates for the 2024 presidential election, on Sunday criticized former President Donald Trump after he brought a historic federal indictment in Miami this week.
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“I can’t defend” what he’s accused of, said Mike Pence, candidate for the 2024 Republican primary, on NBC against Donald Trump, whose vice president he was.
Mr Trump appeared in federal court in Miami on Tuesday, a first for a former president, for keeping documents top secret after leaving the White House and refusing to return them.
He pleaded not guilty, paving the way for a potentially very damaging trial for his 2024 US presidential campaign.
“I think he should give up the race for the White House,” even former Arkansas governor and Republican primary candidate Asa Hutchinson declared on ABC, considering the allegations “serious and disqualifying.”
Mark Esper, Donald Trump’s defense secretary, said of him: “If the allegations are true, they contain information about the security of our nation.” […] it could be very damaging to the nation,” he said on CNN.
“No one is above the law,” he added, calling the revelations “troubling”.
These comments contrast with those of many Republicans in Congress who have either defended Trump or refused to criticize him.
But some Republican presidential candidates find themselves in a tricky spot, anxious to show their difference from Donald Trump while avoiding angering his loyal base.
Mike Pence stressed that the former president “deserved” his court summons, but declined to comment on the case “until he…” [Donald Trump] had the opportunity to bring his case to court.
“I don’t know why some of my competitors in the Republican primary are assuming the president will be found guilty,” he also said.
Donald Trump is accused of endangering the security of the United States by storing confidential documents, including military plans or information about nuclear weapons, in a bathroom or storage room at his luxury residence Mar-a-Lago, Florida, and refusing to return the documents despite a court order Arrangement.
The case is one of several court filings casting a shadow over his candidacy for a second term in 2024.