On Thursday evening, Donald Trump revealed that he has been indicted over the alleged mishandling of classified documents.
“The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax, even though Joe Biden has 1850 Boxes at the University of Delaware, additional Boxes in Chinatown, D.C., with even more Boxes at the University of Pennsylvania, and documents strewn all over his garage floor where he parks his Corvette, and which is ‘secured’ by only a garage door that is paper thin, and open much of the time,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Reports have since confirmed that a federal grand jury in Florida has charged him with seven counts. Although the specific charges have not been revealed, they are said to include allegations of willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and false statements.
Here’s how Trump’s primary opponents reacted to the clearly partisan indictment.
Ron DeSantis
“The weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Twitter. “We have for years witnessed an uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation.”
“Why so zealous in pursuing Trump yet so passive about Hillary or Hunter?” he continued. “The DeSantis administration will bring accountability to the DOJ, excise political bias and end weaponization once and for all.”
Vivek Ramaswamy
“We can’t have two tiers of justice: one for Trump, another for Biden. One for Assange, another for Manning. One for BLM/Antifa, another for peaceful protesters on Jan 6,” Ramaswamy tweeted. “I never thought we’d see the day when the U.S. President deputizes the DOJ to arrest his lead rival in the middle of an election. Obama shamefully tried to deputize the FBI to infiltrate Trump’s 2016 campaign, but they’re leaving nothing to chance this time around: the federal police state is outright arresting Trump. This is an affront to every citizen: we cannot devolve into a banana republic where the party in power uses police force to arrest its political opponents.”
He added, “It’s hypocritical for the DOJ to selectively prosecute Trump but not Biden.”
Tim Scott
Sen Scott spoke of the indictment during an interview on Fox News.
“What we’ve seen over the last several years is the weaponization of the Department [of] Justice against a former president,” Scott said. “You don’t have to be a Republican to see injustice and want to fix it. You don’t have to be a Democrat to see injustice and want to fix it. You just have to be an American and stand up for the right thing.”
Asa Hutchinson
Not all reactions condemned the partisan justice system. Anti-Trump Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.) said Trump should end his campaign.
“With the news that Donald Trump has been indicted for the second time, our country finds itself in a position that weakens our democracy. Donald Trump’s actions-from his willful disregard for the Constitution to his disrespect for the rule of law-should not define our nation or the Republican Party,” he said in a statement. “This is a sad day for our country. While Donald Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence, the ongoing criminal proceedings will be a major distraction. This reaffirms the need for Donald Trump to respect the office and end his campaign.”
Mike Pence
Mike Pence does not appear to have made a public statement responding to the indictment yet but did slam the unequal treatment Trump has received over possessing classified documents during his CNN town hall earlier this week.
“I don’t know the facts of the president’s case. I don’t know the facts of the former president’s case. And — but what we have got to have in this country is equal treatment under the law,” Pence said.
“I mean, when I informed the Department of Justice that we had classified materials potentially in our home — they were at my home — the FBI was on my front doorstep the next day. And what we found out was that when Joe Biden apparently alerted the Department of Justice, 80 days later, they showed up at his office. That’s not equal treatment under the law,” Pence continued. “And we have got to end this two-tiered system of justice.”
Larry Elder
“More partisan prosecution! Hillary violates the Espionage Act—yet skates,” Elder tweeted. “FBI/DOJ whistleblowers tell of 2-tiered justice. FBI informant doc claims Joe & Hunter got $10mil in bribes. O.J. Simpson will catch the killer or killers of Ron and Nicole before the Hunter probe is over.”
Nikki Haley
There does not appear to be any public reaction from Nikki Haley as of this writing.
Doug Burgum
There does not appear to be any public reaction from Doug Burger as of this writing.
Chris Christie
The former governor of New Jersey says he’ll wait until the facts are revealed before issuing a full public statement, but did respond to the news by tweeting, “We don’t get our news from Trump’s Truth Social account. Let’s see what the facts are when any possible indictment is released. As I have said before, no one is above the law, no matter how much they wish they were. We will have more to say when the facts are revealed.”
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