This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
With his politically-driven grand jury indictment of Donald Trump, Manhattan's George Soros-backed District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, has done what only a hard-left, Trump-hating Democrat could do: quickly unite most major Republican leaders behind the former president.
There are some exceptions: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's silence on the Trump indictment has been deafening. And former Arkansas governor and potential longshot presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson says Trump should "step aside," calling the indictment a "huge distraction" that is bad for Republicans and bad for America.
Even as he rails publicly against the "witch hunt" against him, Trump reportedly is cooperating with Bragg's office "to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan D.A.'s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal," CBS reported. He likely will not be handcuffed, and the process will take place Tuesday afternoon, after which Trump will return to Mar-a-lago.
The following are reactions to the Trump indictment from key Republican political leaders
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
DeSantis tweeted Thursday:
The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head.
It is un-American.
The Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney has consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct. Yet, now he is stretching the law to target a political opponent.
Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda.
At press time, DeSantis' tweet had more than 25 million views. In recent polls, DeSantis, who has yet to announce his candidacy for president, is far behind Trump but well ahead of Pence, Pompeo and other prospective candidates.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., tweeted Thursday: "Alvin Bragg has irreparably damaged our country in an attempt to interfere in our Presidential election. As he routinely frees violent criminals to terrorize the public, he weaponized our sacred system of justice against President Donald Trump. The American people will not tolerate this injustice, and the House of Representatives will hold Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account."
Vivek Ramaswamy
This entrepreneur-turned-outside-candidate for president went on Tucker Carlson Thursday and said the greatest thing President Biden could do to fulfill his promise to the American people to be a "unifier" is to "condemn the political persecution via prosecution of his predecessor."
Issuing perhaps the strongest condemnation of Bragg's indictment of Trump of any potential GOP challenger to Trump, Ramaswamy tweeted out a video statement Thursday in which he said about the Manhattan D.A. who campaigned for office "pledging to investigate Trump": "Today, he delivered on a campaign promise."
"That is not how our justice system is supposed to work. Justice is supposed to be impartial," he said in the video. "If this had been anybody else other than Donald Trump, on this set of facts it would have been charged as a misdemeanor at most, if at all. Yet what we see right now is a ruling party in our country that will stop at nothing, even using police force, to arrest its opponents.
"We're not some banana republic, guys, we're the United States of America," he said. "We're supposed to be that shining city on a hill for the rest of the world ... and yet look at what we have become today."
Former Vice-President Mike Pence
Former Vice-President Mike Pence has been blasting Bragg's indictment of his former boss in his public and media appearances:
“The unprecedented indictment of a former President of the United States for a campaign finance issue is an outrage,” Pence said at a National Review "Ideas Summit" Friday. "And it's clear to the overwhelming majority of the American people that this is nothing short of a political prosecution – being affected by a Manhattan D.A. who literally campaigned on bringing charges against one particular American.
"That should be offensive to every American – left, right and center," he said. "Every American deserves equal treatment under the law. And I believe the American people will see this for what it is."
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Trump's former Secretary of State and likely presidential candidate Mike Pompeo issued this statement in a two-part tweet Thursday:
"The Manhattan DA is undermining America’s confidence in our legal system. Bragg is the same Soros-funded prosecutor who refuses to prosecute violent crimes and who has downgraded more than half of all felonies to misdemeanors. (1/2)
"Prosecuting serious crimes keeps Americans safe, but political prosecutions put the American legal system at risk of being viewed as a tool for abuse. DA Bragg - spend taxpayers’ money and your energy protecting law-abiding citizens. Not playing politics. (2/2)"
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc.
Sen. Johnson, who recently won re-election in an extremely close race in the Badger State, tweeted Thursday: "With all the problems facing our country – many exacerbated by Radical Left governance – now a George Soros funded D.A. issues a political indictment against a former president. Leftists are destroying America."
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas
Speaking Friday on his own podcast, "Verdict with Ted Cruz," Sen. Cruz said he is "heartbroken today because this is such a blow to America."
“It’s a blow to rule of law. Our constitution was designed, listen, there’s countries all over the world. If you’re in Russia, this can happen to you. If you’re in China, this can happen to you. If you’re in North Korea or Venezuela or Cuba, this is what banana republics do,” he told co-host Ben Ferguson, as reported by the left-leaning site Mediaite.
“This is what dictatorships do. If one party takes power, you better hope you’re not the prior party cause they’re coming after you. They’re gonna lock you up and they may put you in front of a firing squad,” Cruz warned.
He said with the indictment D.A. Bragg made "an enormous political gift to Donald Trump": “If I were a Democrat, I might well report Alvin Bragg to the Federal Election Commission for making the single greatest in-kind contribution to a presidential campaign in history.”
For his part, Trump put out this "truth" Friday on his own Truth Social platform:
THE RADICAL LEFT DEMOCRATS HAVE LIED, CHEATED, AND STOLEN IN THEIR MANIACAL OBSESSION TO “GET TRUMP,” BUT NOW THEY’VE GONE TOO FAR, INDICTING A TOTALLY INNOCENT MAN IN AN ACT OF OBSTRUCTION AND BLATANT ELECTION INTERFERENCE. HOW MUCH MORE ARE AMERICAN PATRIOTS EXPECTED TO TAKE???…AND ALL OF THIS WHILE OUR COUNTRY IS GOING TO HELL!
