Mike Pence and many other Republicans criticize Donald Trump after his historic impeachment

Many members of the Republican Party have been outspoken in their criticism of Donald Trump, who has been accused of endangering US security by keeping classified documents after his term in the White House.

Several incumbents of the U.S. Republican Party, including candidates for the 2024 presidential election, criticized former President Donald Trump on Sunday after his historic federal indictment in Miami this week.

“I can’t defend what he’s accused of,” Mike Pence announced on NBC, where he’s running for vice president against 2024 Republican primary candidate Donald Trump.

“I think he should give up”

Donald Trump appeared in federal court in Miami on Tuesday, a first for a former president, for possessing top-secret documents after leaving the White House and refusing to return them.

He pleaded not guilty, paving the way for a trial that could be highly damaging to his campaign for the 2024 US presidential election.

“I think he should drop out” of the race for the White House, former Arkansas governor and Republican primary candidate Asa Hutchinson announced on ABC, calling the allegations “serious and without merit.”

Mark Esper, who was Donald Trump’s defense secretary, ruled that “if the allegations are true, they contain information about the security of our nation (…) that would be very damaging to the nation,” he told CNN. “No one is above the law”, he added, calling the revelations “disturbing”.

The comments contrasted with those of many Republicans in Congress, who either supported Trump or refused to criticize him.

But some Republican presidential candidates find themselves in a delicate position, eager to differentiate themselves from Donald Trump while avoiding alienating his loyal base. Mike Pence thus underlined that the former president “deserves” his invitation to court, while refusing to speak on the case “until he (Donald Trump, editor’s note) has had a chance to take his case to court.”