Facing a federal indictment for mishandling classified documents, Donald Trump finds himself awash with support from Republican politicians, media—and even his most bitter rivals in the GOP presidential primary. On Fox News, the indictment was portrayed as the death knell for American democracy and the beginning of an authoritarian coup. Lawmaker Clay Higgins appeared to make a literal call to arms. Governor Ron DeSantis, currently second behind Trump in the polls, carefully avoided making any negative comments about the president’s legal woes—likely concerned with angering Trump’s base. “The weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society,” he tweeted.
Despite facing a litany of lurid accusations and threats from Trump, DeSantis still condemned the investigation as “an uneven application of the law. Why so zealous in pursuing Trump yet so passive about Hillary or Hunter?” he tweeted. (He went on to promise to “bring accountability to the DOJ” and end its political “weaponization” if elected president.)
Senator Tim Scott, who jumped into the Republican presidential primary in May, took a similar tack, decrying “the weaponization of the Department of Justice against the former president.” Meanwhile, Vivek Ramaswamy, perhaps one of the more long shot GOP primary field candidates, went a step further. “I commit to pardon Trump promptly on January 20, 2025, and to restore the rule of law in our country,” he tweeted.
Trump is expected to surrender in federal court in Miami on Tuesday. He has denied all wrongdoing. Though, a CNN report Friday revealed audio from a 2021 meeting in which Trump is heard acknowledging that he had retained “secret” military information. “As president, I could have declassified, but now I can’t,” Trump said at the time.
However, in Fox News’ telling, Trump has only been the target of a vast left-wing conspiracy. “What do you mean [Trump is] not above the law? There is no law,” Mark Levin exclaimed. “What’s going on here is…a war on Trump. It is a war on the Republican Party. And it is a war on the Republic.” Former Trump aide Stephen Miller also went on Fox to declare that “history will record today as the day that we ceased to be a democratic republic and we became a people ruled by an unelected government bureaucracy.” Fox News host Pete Hegseth even urged the Republicans running against Trump to break from the campaign trail on Tuesday for a trip to Miami, where they should stand “for justice in the country.”
That coverage was on par with remarks shared by some Republicans in Congress. “Today is indeed a dark day for the United States,” stated House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, before accusing Joe Biden of surreptitiously orchestrating the indictment of his chief 2024 opponent. “I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump against this grave injustice,” he added. “House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponization of power accountable.”
Higgins, though, appeared to take his remarks to the utmost extremes. An Army veteran, the Louisiana Republican described the pending indictment as a “perimeter probe from the oppressors” and appeared to urge Trump supporters to coordinate a mission to save the former president. “1/50K know your bridges,” he tweeted, “1/50K” being an apparent reference to a type of map scale used by the US military. “Rock steady calm. That is all.” (The lawmaker’s office did not respond to a request for comment.)
Caleb Ecarma
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