- GOP presidential primary hopefuls weighed in on the fourth indictment of former President Donald Trump relating to alleged attempts to overturn Georgia’s presidential election in 2020.
- The Fulton County District Attorney charged the former president late Monday evening with racketeering, conspiracy, making false statements and more, and some Republican presidential candidates condemned the indictment, while others commended it.
- “Another day, another indictment, and another example of how the former president’s baggage will hand Joe Biden reelection if Trump is the Republican nominee,” former Texas Rep. Will Hurd said in a statement.
Several 2024 Republican presidential candidates reacted to the fourth indictment of former President Donald Trump regarding his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
A grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, charged Trump late Monday evening for allegedly violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, several counts of conspiracy, making false statements and more. GOP primary hopefuls responded to the 98-page indictment, with some condemning the charges and others commending them.
“So, the Witch Hunt continues! 19 people Indicated tonight, including the former President of the United States, me, by an out of control and very corrupt District Attorney who campaigned and raised money on, ‘I will get Trump,'” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “And what about those Indictment Documents put out today, long before the Grand Jury even voted, and then quickly withdrawn? Sounds Rigged to me! Why didn’t they Indict 2.5 years ago? Because they wanted to do it right in the middle of my political campaign. Witch Hunt!”
Conservative businessman Vivek Ramaswamy slammed the fourth indictment for being another example of “politicized persecutions through a prosecution.” (RELATED:Trump Indicted In Georgia Election Interference Case)
“It would be a lot easier for me if Donald Trump were not in this primary, but that is not how I want to win this election. The way we do elections in the United States of America is that we the people, you all, get to decide who governs, not the federal police state,” Ramaswamy said at a NewsNation town hall. “That is wrong, and I stand not on the side of self interest, but on the side of principle, when I say that.”
Here we go again: another disastrous Trump indictment. It’s downright pathetic that Fulton County publicly posted the indictment on its website even before the grand jury had finished convening. Since the four prosecutions against Trump are using novel & untested legal theories,… pic.twitter.com/LOYkGcCgm5
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) August 14, 2023
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was critical of the charges brought against the former president, and argued that RICO is intended to target “organized crime,” not political activity.
“I think it’s an example of this criminalization of politics,” DeSantis said at a virtual press conference. “I don’t think that this is something that is good for the country, but I think a lot of Republican voters are looking at some of the things that have happened, whether it’s the Department of Justice, whether it is some of the things that have happened locally, and I think the question is, okay, what are we going to do about it? And I’ve already said, as president, we are going to end the weaponization of federal agencies like the DOJ and FBI.”
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott also criticized the indictment as being another example of weaponization, and pledged to reform the system if president.
“We see the legal system being weaponized against political opponents, that is un-American and unacceptable,” Scott told a reporter in Iowa. “And at the end of the day we need a better system than that and I frankly, hope to be the president of the United States where we have an opportunity to restore competence and integrity in all of our departments of justice in the country.”
Ahead of the indictment’s official release, the Fulton County clerk’s office briefly posted a near-identical document to its website, drawing mass criticism across social media. District Attorney Fani Willis, who handed down the charges, dodged a question about the leak, and said she’s “not an expert on clerks’ duties.”
Along with the former president, 18 others were indicted regarding their involvement with the alleged attempts to overturn Georgia’s election, including attorneys Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, as well as former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
Conservative radio personality Larry Elder slammed the charges, and argued Democrats are hypocritical for criticizing Trump over questioning the 2020 election results, citing Hillary Clinton’s belief her 2016 White House bid was stolen.
“The latest indictment against Donald Trump is politically motivated, just as the ones that came before,” Elder said in a statement. “The text messages and emails allegedly in the possession of Georgia prosecutors show that Trump’s legal team fully believed that they had permission from Georgia authorities to access voting systems as part of an audit.”
The Georgia charges come after an Aug. 1 indictment over Trump’s alleged involvement in Jan. 6, an early June indictment over the former president’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and a late March indictment for allegedly falsifying business records when reimbursing hush money payments.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a frequent Trump critic, believes the Georgia charges were “unnecessary,” as special counsel Jack Smith already indicted the former president over election interference.
“I’m uncomfortable with what I read last night,” Christie told Fox News. “Now, remember, as to the other defendants, Jack Smith chose not to charge them, so I would have less of a problem with this if she decided, ‘OK, I’m not going to charge Donald Trump here because he has been charged for essentially this conduct by Jack Smith.’ But Giuliani and Meadows and others have not been charged at the federal level – that would be a more defensible indictment, I think.”
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the fourth indictment is another “challenge for our democracy,” and echoed his previous sentiment that Trump shouldn’t be in the race for president.
“Regardless of the specifics of the Georgia indictment, I expect the voters will make the ultimate decision on the future of our democracy,” Hutchinson said in a statement. “Over a year ago, I said that Donald Trump’s actions disqualified him from ever serving as President again. Those words are more true today than ever before. I will have additional comments after I review the details of the indictment.”
Former Texas Rep. Will Hurd mocked the repetitiveness of the Trump indictments, and argued the GOP must move on from the former president due to his growing legal woes.
“Another day, another indictment, and another example of how the former president’s baggage will hand Joe Biden reelection if Trump is the Republican nominee,” Hurd said in a statement. “This is further evidence that Trump knew he lost the 2020 election and was ready to do anything it took to cling to power. He will use this latest indictment as another opportunity to manipulate Americans into paying his legal bills.”
This article has been updated with reactions from Ron DeSantis, Tim Scott and Chris Christie.
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