Their responses ranged from promising a pardon to condemning the former president.
Former President Donald Trump’s second federal indictment this year provoked varying reactions from his Republican rivals, from promises of a pardon to outright condemnation.
Trump, the GOP front-runner in the 2024 presidential race, was indicted Tuesday on four federal charges stemming from the Department of Justice (DOJ) probe into the deadly January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and referred to the indictment as «fake charges» and election interference.
The former president’s legal battles, which include another federal indictment from a separate DOJ probe that involves Trump’s handling of classified documents after leaving the White House, have sparked a divide among his GOP challengers.
In the classified-documents case, Trump faces 40 federal charges and is scheduled for arraignment in the Capitol riot investigation on Thursday.
Trump hinted that federal charges were coming on Tuesday in a post to his Truth Social platform shortly before the indictment was made public. In the January 6 probe, Trump was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.
A handful of his GOP presidential contenders quickly responded to Trump’s indictment news on Tuesday evening.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, Trump’s 2016 running mate, was a key figure named in the Capitol riot indictment. Pence resisted pressure from the former president to help overturn the 2020 election, the court document states, which says Trump made several phone calls to his former vice president, urging him to intervene with certification proceedings.
Shortly after 8 p.m., Pence issued a series of tweets, sharing his thoughts on Trump’s charges and slamming the former president for putting «himself over the Constitution.»
«Today’s indictment serves as an important reminder: anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States,» Pence said in one of the tweets, adding in another that he will have more to say once he reviews the indictment.
In a subsequent post, Pence said he «chose the Constitution» over Trump and «always will.»
«Our country is more important than one man,» he said. «Our Constitution is more important than any one man’s career. On January 6th, Former President Trump demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution.
