NEWS ALERT: DeSantis and other 2024 GOP rivals react to indictment against Trump, one pledges to pardon Trump

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Anneta Griffee
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Former President Donald Trump’s top Republican rivals have released statements after federal prosecutors hit Trump with an indictment Thursday evening over his handling of documents taken to Mar-a-Lago.

Trump has been hit with 37 charges, and is scheduled to be arraigned in a Florida court on Tuesday.

Most other Republican 2024 presidential candidates are speaking out to condemn the indictment of a former president, with one going so far as to say if he wins the presidency, he will immediately pardon Trump.

Ron DeSantis: Late Thursday night, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is Trump’s top contender in the 2024 Republican primary, posted a statement on social media.

“The weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society. 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?” DeSantis wrote.

“The DeSantis administration will bring accountability to the DOJ, excise political bias and end weaponization once and for all,” he added.

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, another 2024 Republican presidential contender, lambasted the FBI for indicting Trump, and vowed to pardon him immediately if elected as president.

In a Facebook post, he wrote:

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.

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. It’s hypocritical for the DOJ to selectively prosecute Trump but not Biden.

There are also serious legal questions about the President’s power to declassify documents and the potential illegality of the over-classification of federal documents in the first place. That’s for the courts to decide, but *we the people* decide who governs this nation.

It would be much easier for me to win this election if Trump weren’t in the race, but I stand for principles over politics. I commit to pardon Trump promptly on January 20, 2025 and to restore the rule of law in our country.

Ramaswamy also unleashed his fury in a video statement. Watch below:

Sen. Tim Scott condemned the corrupt justice system in America, and declared, “As President, I will purge all the injustices in our system so every American is seen by the Lady of Justice with a blindfold on.”

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, released a statement on Twitter.

“This is not how justice should be pursued in our country. The American people are exhausted by the prosecutorial overreach, double standards, and vendetta politics. It’s time to move beyond the endless drama and distractions,” Haley tweeted.

Speaking at a campaign event on Friday, former vice-president Mike Pence said, “I’m deeply troubled to see this indictment move forward. The American people have a right to know what’s in that indictment, and they have a right to know today.”

Pence called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to “unseal the indictment and stand before the press and the American people and explain the reasons for the indictment of a former president of the United States.”

The Justice Department did unseal the indictment later on Friday.

On Twitter, Pence wrote:

We’ve had enough of Democrats and the Radical Left repeatedly trampling on our Constitution, threatening to pack the court to dismantle our God given rights enshrined there.

We must stand on the Constitution to protect the God-given right to life. We must stand on the Constitution to keep and bear arms. And we must stand on the Constitution to protect our God-given right to live, to work, and to worship according to the dictates of our conscience!

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson took a more critical approach toward Trump, and called on Trump to end his presidential campaign in a statement posted Thursday night. He wrote:

“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. This is 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.”

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