Trump arraignment: Where were other GOP candidates?

FPI / June 15, 2023

As Donald Trump was being arraigned in Miami on Tuesday after being charged with more than 30 felony accounts by the Biden Department of Justice, only one of the seven other top contenders for the GOP 2024 presidential nomination showed up to support the former president.

Trump noted on Truth Social: “This persecution is being done by the same weaponized agencies that for 7 years have been running psychological warfare on the American people.”

Conservative commentator Jack Posobiec of Human Events wrote on Telegram: "Sure are a lot of 'Professional Conservative Thought Leaders' quiet when the most popular conservative in the country was just arrested by the liberal President's administration ... Take special notice of people who say they are 'fighting for our values' but do nothing when one of our guys is arrested by the regime ...

So, where were those other seven Republican presidential candidates on Tuesday?

Vivek Ramaswamy

The entrepreneur was the only candidate to go to Miami in support of Trump. Ramaswamy stood outside the courthouse and said, if he won the presidency, he would pardon Trump. He called on all those in the Republican field to do the same or issue an explanation as to why they won’t.

"It would be a lot easier for me as a Republican candidate if Donald Trump were not in it, but I don’t want to win this election, unlike others, by eliminating our competition by a federal administration police state arresting my opponents," Ramaswamy said.

Ron DeSantis

As his chief GOP rival was being arrested by the Biden regime in Florida, the Florida governor was absent from the campaign trail, was not active on social media, and did not issue a statement on Trump's arraignment.

During a Friday campaign stop in Greensboro, North Carolina, DeSantis, while not mentioning Trump by name, said: "Our founding fathers would have absolutely predicted the weaponization that we've seen with these agents, particularly Justice and FBI, because when you don't have constitutional accountability, human nature is such that they will abuse power. And that's what happened," DeSantis said.

Mike Pence

The former vice president, who had begged for forgiveness after his own classified documents drama in 2022, state that "no one is above the law," and also that "as Americans, you’re innocent until proven guilty."

"And I can’t defend what is alleged. But the President is entitled to his day in court, he’s entitled to bring a defense, and I want to reserve judgment until he has the opportunity to respond," Pence told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who was named by Trump as United States ambassador for the United Nations, was campaigning in southern California on Tuesday.

Asked last week by Fox News about the indictment, Haley said: "If this indictment is true, if what it says is actually the case, President Trump was incredibly reckless with our national security."

Asa Hutchinson

The RINO former Arkansas governor told ABC News on Tuesday that the indictment is "a very strong case."

"Obviously, this is going to have to be tried. You’ve got to prove all of that. But as Bill Barr said, if half of that is approved, then it’s a very devastating case that’s being presented against the former president," he said.

Chris Christie

A Trump ally until the 2020 election the former New Jersey governor held a town hall event with CNN on Monday evening leading up to the arraignment, calling Trump a "3-time loser."

Tim Scott

The South Carolina senator held a campaign event on June 12 in his home state, saying that the indictment was "a serious case with serious allegations," but added, “What we see today across this administration of President Joe Biden is a double standard. That double standard is both un-American and unacceptable. You can’t protect Democrats while targeting and hunting Republicans," he added.

Scott was not in Miami on Tuesday and did not address the indictment.

Posobiec added: "Trump went harder than ever before in this speech tonight. You can hear the fire in his voice. The focus in his eyes. They've pushed him to a whole new level. This is beyond 2016. This is something else entirely."

Free Press International
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