After former President Donald Trump was criminally indictment by a Florida grand jury Thursday, many Republicans — including his 2024 GOP rivals — came to his defense.
Republican candidates including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), as well as U.S. Representatives Jim Jordan (R-OH) and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), have all criticized the Department of Justice over Trump's indictment.
U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware), during an appearance on ABC News'This Week Sunday, said he believes the indictment poses a real "challenge" for these GOP leaders who continue to support Trump.
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"I think the challenges here are for Republicans to explain to the American people why they are confident President Trump should be reelected, given his casual -- even callous -- mishandling of critical national security documents," Coons told ABC host George Stephanopoulos.
"This isn't a minor case of who kept a handful of documents inadvertently," Coons said. "He's been charged for knowingly and willingly concealing, that he retained willfully federal documents that were critical to our national defense."
The Democratic leader emphasized, "That's the basis of this prosecution," Coons said. "And it is a sad day George for a former president of the United States to be federally criminally charged. But the basis of the rule of law in our democracy is that no man is above the law."
Watch the video below or at this link.
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ABC News' full report is available at this link.
