Donald Trump’s Republican Rivals Take a Hit as Former President Receives Second Criminal Complaint

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The remarkable fact is that the majority of Republican rivals who have so far run for president in 2024, whether they mean it or not, agree with their opponent Trump on this point. Before the indictment itself was made public, they were clamoring loudly that justice in the United States has become a weapon in the hands of the Democratic Party or left-wing activists like billionaire George Soros.

Trump’s closest opponent in the polls, Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis, wrote on Twitter that the ‘turning of justice into weapons is a mortal danger to a free society. For years we have witnessed an unbalanced application of the law, depending on political convictions. Why are they so fanatical about prosecuting Trump, but so lax about prosecuting Hillary or Hunter?” Hunter Biden, son of the president, is still under investigation for possible tax evasion.

Hush money

That suddenly sounded very different from DeSantis’ reaction to Trump’s arraignment in New York court in April on suspicion of falsifying financial documents to cover up hush money for a porn actress. The governor of Florida said at the time only that he had little sensible to say “about buying off a porn star.” It immediately earned him stinging criticism from the hard core of Trump supporters. And he saw a good position in the polls (that was before he had formally run for office) go up in smoke. Trump has since been ahead by 10 to 30 percentage points in most polls. It seems DeSantis has learned his lesson: there is no way to a nomination without the support of Trump’s electorate.

For years we have witnessed an unbalanced application of the law, depending on political convictions

Ron DeSantis Republican presidential candidate

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, who recently announced that he will not run in this year’s presidential election, expressed surprise at CNN about the stocking feet on Trump rivals. “When you enter the race, you have to beat the one who is ahead. You have to knock him down. And given all the things Trump has to his credit, a mile-long list, you’d expect them to be a little more aggressive.”

Law & order

Here’s the dilemma: His opponents are trying to defeat Trump while retaining his voters. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the response of former Vice President Mike Pence. He announced his candidacy last week, without any noticeable effect on the polls. None of the nine Republicans in the race against Trump have worked more closely with the former president than Pence. None of them have much to do with him either. Trump incited his supporters against Pence because he did not want to give him the presidency on January 6, 2021, but rather endorsed Biden’s victory. While chanting “Hang Mike Pence!they stormed the Capitol.

Although the same Pence says that Trump was “wrong” when he believed his vice president could just give him victory, he also joins the chorus of Republicans who speak of shame about the criminal investigation into Trump’s handling of confidential documents . Pence expressed his “deep concern” over the latest indictment, which he said “only deepens the division.” He also wanted to say that the prosecutor’s office has been “made into a weapon” and that the law is not applied equally in the US.

The Republican Party, for example, has traditionally been the defender of law & order, turned into a party that fights law enforcement once Trump is under investigation. When the FBI conducted a search under a judge’s order in this case, virtually all Republicans echoed Trump in characterizing this as a “robbery.”

Speaking in response to the disclosure of the charges of a “dark day,” the leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, threatened that “we will not accept this.” He referred in general terms to “measures” that Republicans in the House want to propose to guarantee “fair justice”.