Republican reaction to Trump indictment is 'absurd,' former GOP governor says

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Sunday condemned the candidates in the GOP presidential field for rallying around former President Donald Trump after he was charged with 37 felonies related to classified documents he moved from the White House to his home at the end of his term.

“It's absurd that candidates won't stand up and say that these are very serious charges, we need to take them seriously, and, you know, if you are not going to challenge him, why challenge him?” Hogan, a Republican who declined to enter the presidential race, said during a panel discussion on ABC’s “This Week.”

"You've got 11, 12 challengers out there that aren't challenging him, and they're, you know, sort of enablers and just making excuses," Hogan said, noting that former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson — both of whom have openly bashed the former president over the indictment — were excluded from that count.

The former president’s indictment has gotten a mixed response from his opponents in the 2024 Republican primary race, with some pledging to pardon Trump and others calling for the current front-runner to drop out of the race. Many have instead gone after the Justice Department and President Joe Biden, echoing Trump’s claim that the indictment is “political prosecution,” brought by a federal government they say is corrupt.

“I think they're all trying to find that balance, and I get the fact that they are all concerned about overzealous prosecution, but this is not the Russia probe, you know?” Hogan said, referencing an investigation into the former president’s ties to Russia during his 2016 campaign.

“This [has] very serious potential national security implications. And to say we don't want to look at that — anybody who doesn't want to look at the facts, they should be disqualified from running, not just Trump,” Hogan added.