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Former President Trump’s Republican primary competitors scrambled to respond to the freshly unsealed federal indictment threatening him with up to 400 years in prison — with reactions ranging from full-throated defense to outright condemnation.
Former Vice President Mike Pence spoke warmly of his ex-boss Saturday as he addressed a friendly crowd of Republicans at North Carolina’s state GOP convention, saying he “couldn’t have been more proud to stand shoulder to shoulder every single day with President Donald Trump” during their single term in office.
Pence condemned the Department of Justice for its “politicization,” calling Trump’s indictment “a sad day for America.”
“I’m deeply troubled to see this indictment move forward, its capacity to further divide our country at a time when the American people are struggling as never before,” Pence said, demanding that Attorney General Merritt Garland “stop hiding behind the special counsel and stand before the American people and explain… the reasons for this unprecedented action.”
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy opened his Saturday morning speech at Georgia’s Republican Party convention with an attack on the “corrupt federal government” that is seeking “to stop my competitor in this race from running against me” by prosecuting Trump.
