Just last week, former Vice President Mike Pence said he hoped federal prosecutors would not bring charges against former President Donald Trump. On Wednesday, a day after Trump was arraigned on dozens of felony counts related to classified documents, Pence described the allegations as \u201ca very serious matter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI cannot defend what is alleged,\u201d Pence, who is now challenging Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, said on CNBC. Later in the day, the former vice president faced pointed questions from a conservative radio host after refusing to say whether he would pardon Trump if given the chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pence\u2019s evolving message highlights the high-stakes dilemma for Trump\u2019s Republican rivals, who are struggling to find a clear and consistent strategy to take on the frontrunner as Trump\u2019s unprecedented legal troubles threaten to dominate all other issues in the 2024 presidential contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some Republican leaders this week have demonstrated a newfound willingness to criticize Trump over the seriousness of the allegations, which include mishandling government secrets that as commander in chief he was entrusted to protect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a former naval officer and Trump\u2019s top rival for the nomination, said that \u201cif I would have taken classified (documents) to my apartment, I would have been court-martialed in a New York minute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But that was just a brief mention in a weekend speech at a North Carolina GOP gathering, during which he focused his censure on the Justice Department and the Biden administration. He has avoided addressing it since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s been much the same for other challengers. Even the most aggressive have layered their criticism of Trump with attacks against the Justice Department \u2014 for bringing charges against him \u2014 that make it difficult at times to determine exactly where they stand on the former president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s precisely the point, given Trump\u2019s continued popularity among GOP voters and his rivals\u2019 desire to dent his lead without alienating his base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed, most of Trump\u2019s competitors are making a risky bet \u2014 for now \u2014 that the weight of his extraordinary baggage will eventually sink his reelection bid. They believe it will take time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s Republican opponents privately concede that his political strength is likely to grow stronger in the short term, as GOP voters, key officials and conservative media leaders rally around him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, Pastor Robert Jeffress, of the First Baptist megachurch in Dallas, initially declined to endorse Trump\u2019s 2024 bid but declared Tuesday night that the GOP\u2019s presidential primary was all but over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI thought there would be almost a civil war in the Republican Party for the nomination, but that quickly turned into an unconditional surrender,\u201d said Jeffress, who mingled at Trump\u2019s post-indictment gathering at Bedminster, New Jersey. \u201cPeople absolutely love this president, and I believe his base is going to turn out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Republican establishment has tried and failed to reject Trump and his divisive politics for much of the past decade. But this time the GOP faces the very real possibility that a man who has been indicted twice and charged with dozens of felonies could become the party\u2019s standard-bearer in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fighting that outcome, which once seemed all but inevitable, a powerful conservative voice is being raised in the fight for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Koch network\u2019s political arm, Americans for Prosperity, has begun running online ads across Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina \u2014 the first three states on the GOP\u2019s presidential primary calendar \u2014 focusing on questions about Trump\u2019s electability in next fall\u2019s general election against Biden. The new ads make no mention of his legal troubles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTrump did a lot of good things as president,\u201d one of the ads says. \u201cBut this time, he can\u2019t win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Americans for Prosperity CEO Emily Seidel said her organization has talked to thousands of voters in key states to determine the most effective arguments to undermine Trump\u2019s political strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBased on the data we\u2019re collecting, more than two-thirds of people who say they\u2019re supporting Trump are also receptive to arguments that he is a weak candidate, his focus on 2020 is a liability, and his lack of appeal with independent voters is a problem,\u201d Seidel said. \u201cThat tells us that many Republicans are ready to move on \u2014 they just need to see another candidate step up and show they can lead and win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So far, Trump\u2019s rivals are still trying to find their footing as the former president commands a big lead in early Republican primary polls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as they test evolving messages on the campaign trail and in media appearances, none of top-tier competitors are running paid advertisements pointing to Trump\u2019s legal troubles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Iowa Wednesday night, GOP presidential contender Tim Scott declined to mention his recent comments that Trump\u2019s indictment represents \u201ca serious case\u201d involving \u201cserious charges\u201d when a voter asked about a \u201cweaponized\u201d Justice Department \u2014 a reference to Trump\u2019s insistence that federal prosecutors are targeting him to weaken his presidential campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scott, a South Carolina senator, instead pledged to root out politics within the Justice Department if elected president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAmericans must have a justice system where the lady of justice wears a blindfold. We cannot target Republicans and protect Democrats,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
White House hopeful Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, told Fox News on Monday that Trump was incredibly \u201creckless with our national security\u201d if the allegations in the indictment are true. On Tuesday, she repeated the pointed criticism, but also said she\u2019d be inclined to pardon Trump if he\u2019s convicted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think it would be terrible for the country to have a former president in prison for years because of a documents case,\u201d Haley said on the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton radio show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pence refused to say he would pardon Trump when pressed on the same conservative radio show on Wednesday, saying it was premature to have such a conversation and that he would \u201cfollow the facts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That sounded like he would be fine with Trump in prison and felt \u201cpretty disrespectful,\u201d he was told.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLook, we either believe in our judicial process in this country or we don\u2019t,\u201d Pence said. \u201cWe either stand by the rule of law or we don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Others have made defending Trump a central message in their early campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking outside the Miami courthouse on Tuesday, White House hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy said his campaign had sent a letter to other 2024 candidates challenging them to join his pledge to pardon Trump on their first day in office \u201cor else publicly explain why you will not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump, meanwhile, is trying to take advantage of the media storm. After his appearance in federal court in Miami, he made a stop at the city\u2019s famed Versailles Restaurant in Little Havana, with news cameras in tow. He then headed home to his Bedminster summer residence, where aides had assembled hundreds of supporters, club members and reporters for a post-arraignment speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump was welcomed like a general returning home from battle. Insisting he was innocent of all charges, he vowed that, as president, he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden and his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for the indictment and charges? \u201cThis is called election interference and yet another attempt to rig and steal a presidential election,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As they reckon with the logistical complications of balancing court appearances with campaign rallies, as well as the possibility Trump could face years behind bars, his political advisers stress what they see as the political benefits. They believe the wall-to-wall coverage of his legal woes makes it difficult for his competitors to break through as the focus rests on him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFrom a campaign standpoint, I mean, what did the other candidates do today? Do we know?\u201d asked Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung. \u201cThere\u2019s no oxygen for the other candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The campaign also announced Wednesday that it had raised more than $7 million since Trump broke news of his second indictment, including $2.1 million raised at a Bedminster fundraiser Tuesday night. Trump\u2019s campaign had reported raising more than $4 million in the 24 hours after news of his New York indictment broke in March, suggesting the indictments remain a strong money-raiser, but a potentially diminishing one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Veteran Republican strategist Ari Fleischer warned that it would take time to understand the political impact of Trump\u2019s growing legal challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA short-term rally around Trump now is not the true measure,\u201d Fleischer said. \u201cThe only test is a long-term test.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n