Mike Pence and many Republicans are criticizing Donald Trump after his historic indictment

Many of the Republican Party’s credentials have publicly criticized Donald Trump, who has been accused of endangering the security of the United States by keeping classified documents after his term in the White House ends.

Indefensible, not above the law… Many US Republican Party beliefs, including candidates for the 2024 presidential election, slammed former President Donald Trump on Sunday, following his historic federal indictment in Miami this week.

“I can’t defend” what he’s accused of, Mike Pence declared on NBC, the 2024 Republican primary candidate against Donald Trump, who was vice president.

“I think he should give up.”

Donald Trump appeared in federal court in Miami on Tuesday, in a precedent for a former president, for keeping top-secret documents after leaving the White House and refusing to return them.

He pleaded not guilty, setting the stage for a trial that could prove deeply damaging to his campaign for the 2024 US presidential election.

“I think he should give up” the race for the White House, former Arkansas governor and Republican primary candidate Asa Hutchinson declared on ABC, deeming the allegations “serious and incompetent.”

Mark Esper, who was Donald Trump’s defense secretary, said that “if the accusations are true, they contain information about the security of our nation (…) that could be very harmful to the nation,” he said on CNN. He added, “No one is above the law,” considering these revelations “disturbing.”

These statements contrast with those of many Republicans in Congress who have either defended Trump or refused to criticize him.

But some Republican presidential candidates find themselves in a delicate position, eager to show they differ from Donald Trump, while avoiding alienating his loyal base. Thus Mike Pence asserted that the former president “deserved” to be called to court, while refusing to speak on the case “until he (Donald Trump, editor’s note) has had the opportunity to take his case to court.”