‘Witch Hunt!’: 2024 GOP Presidential Candidates React To Fourth Trump Indictment

‘Witch Hunt!’: 2024 GOP Presidential Candidates React To Fourth Trump Indictment

Mary Lou Masters on August 15, 2023

• GOP presidential primary hopefuls weighed in on the fourth indictment of former President Donald Trump relating to alleged attempts to overturn Georgia’s presidential election in 2020.
• The Fulton County District Attorney charged the former president late Monday evening with racketeering, conspiracy, making false statements and more, and some Republican presidential candidates condemned the indictment, while others commended it.
• “Another day, another indictment, and another example of how the former president’s baggage will hand Joe Biden reelection if Trump is the Republican nominee,” former Texas Rep. Will Hurd said in a statement.

Several 2024 Republican presidential candidates reacted to the fourth indictment of former President Donald Trump regarding his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

A grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, charged Trump late Monday evening for allegedly violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, several counts of conspiracy, making false statements and more. GOP primary hopefuls responded to the 98-page indictment, with some condemning the charges and others commending them.

“So, the Witch Hunt continues! 19 people Indicated tonight, including the former President of the United States, me, by an out of control and very corrupt District Attorney who campaigned and raised money on, ‘I will get Trump,’” Trump wrotein a Truth Social post. “And what about those Indictment Documents put out today, long before the Grand Jury even voted, and then quickly withdrawn? Sounds Rigged to me! Why didn’t they Indict 2.5 years ago? Because they wanted to do it right in the middle of my political campaign. Witch Hunt!”

Conservative businessman Vivek Ramaswamy slammed the fourth indictment for being another example of “politicized persecutions through a prosecution.”

“It would be a lot easier for me if Donald Trump were not in this primary, but that is not how I want to win this election. The way we do elections in the United States of America is that we the people, you all, get to decide who governs, not the federal police state,” Ramaswamy said at a NewsNation town hall. “That is wrong, and I stand not on the side of self interest, but on the side of principle, when I say that.”

Ahead of the indictment’s official release, the Fulton County clerk’s office briefly posted a near-identical document to its website, drawing mass criticism across social media. District Attorney Fani Willis, who handed down the charges, dodgeda question about the leak, and said she’s “not an expert on clerks’ duties.”

Along with the former president, 18 others were indicted regarding their involvement with the alleged attempts to overturn Georgia’s election, including attorneys Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, as well as former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the fourth indictment is another “challenge for our democracy,” and echoed his previous sentiment that Trump shouldn’t be in the race for president.

“Regardless of the specifics of the Georgia indictment, I expect the voters will make the ultimate decision on the future of our democracy,” Hutchinson said in a statement. “Over a year ago, I said that Donald Trump’s actions disqualified him from ever serving as President again. Those words are more true today than ever before. I will have additional comments after I review the details of the indictment.”

Former Texas Rep. Will Hurd mocked the repetitiveness of the Trump indictments, and argued the GOP must move on from the former president due to his growing legal woes.

“Another day, another indictment, and another example of how the former president’s baggage will hand Joe Biden reelection if Trump is the Republican nominee,” Hurd said in a statement. “This is further evidence that Trump knew he lost the 2020 election and was ready to do anything it took to cling to power. He will use this latest indictment as another opportunity to manipulate Americans into paying his legal bills.”

The Georgia charges come after an Aug. 1 indictment over Trump’s alleged involvement in Jan. 6, an early June indictment over the former president’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and a late March indictment for allegedly falsifying business records when reimbursing hush money payments.