GOP rivals react to latest Trump drama… Asa Hutchinson wins the prize for pearl-clutching

The big drama today has been that Trump announced he has been informed that he is a target of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill and the efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Trump expects to be indicted and arrested. All of us should expect that.

It tracks with how Smith and Biden’s DOJ have treated Old Yeller’s likely opponent in the 2024 presidential election. It appears they are doing all they can to take out Trump so they can “save democracy”, or something. No former president has ever been investigated and criminally charged as Trump has been. You can agree that Trump is being unfairly treated by Biden’s DOJ and still not want him to get the Republican nomination for president. Both things can be true at the same time.

One reason Trump is so far ahead in polls right now is because the Republican candidates have not laid a glove on him. No one seems to have the stones to speak up and call out why they are running against him. Otherwise, what are they doing in the primary? The primary is the time to bloody up the challengers. Why are they ceding the spotlight and all the oxygen in the room to Trump? Trump, generally speaking, is also leaving all of them alone, except for DeSantis. If some of the others start to move in the polls, as Tim Scott and Vivek Ramaswamy are beginning to do, that may not last. For now, Trump is content acting like he’s the kingmaker who is responsible for any elected Republican’s victories.

So, what does everyone think about the possibility of Trump’s third round of indictments and possible arrest? Let’s check in.

This one is different than the other indictments, according to Vivek. This can potentially disqualify Trump from becoming president again. Isn’t that the objective of the Biden administration and his fellow Democrats?

“This one under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment could disqualify President Trump from either running for U.S. president or potentially even being removed as U.S. president if he is elected. Either sets a dangerous precedent here,” Ramaswamy, a multi-millionaire entrepreneur, author, political commentator and culture wars crusader, said in his video.

“Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that anyone who’s taken an oath to office — a congressman, a senator, a president, can be removed from office or disqualified for running for office if they’ve also engaged in an insurrection against the United States. So if it is held that President Trump did play a role in an insurrection against the U.S., that disqualifies him from being U.S. president under the 14th Amendment,” Ramaswamy said.

And he charged that “I do not want to see my opponents eliminated because of the actions of a corrupt federal administrative police state.”

Asa Hutchinson wins the prize for the most dramatic of the bunch. He thinks Trump should immediately suspend his campaign. And, he’s saying he told everyone that Trump’s actions on January 6 disqualify from becoming president again.

See my statement on the news that Donald Trump is a target of the #January6th Investigation: pic.twitter.com/jeor7zoUMi

— Gov. Asa Hutchinson (@AsaHutchinson) July 18, 2023

Nikki Haley said, correctly, that the whole primary season will be like this. It will be all about Trump’s legal woes, indictments, lawsuits, and arrests. It gave her an opportunity to hit on a favorite theme of hers – the need for generational change in politics, especially in the presidential race.

🚨BREAKING🚨 FMR PRESIDENT TRUMP SAYS HE IS TARGET OF DOJ JANUARY 6 GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION.

Former President Donald Trump says he received a letter from special counsel Jack Smith stating that he is the target of a January 6 grand jury investigation on Tuesday.

Trump says he… pic.twitter.com/nr7DUn979Y

— America’s Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) July 18, 2023

DeSantis is in South Carolina today. He was asked about the news during a press conference. He spoke to the weaponization of government agencies.

“I can’t speak about that because I haven’t seen it,” DeSantis said of the naming of Trump as a target in the Jan. 6 investigation.

But he added, “I can tell you one of my jobs as president will be to end the weaponization of these agencies. I will get that job done.”

DeSantis has called out the Trump campaign for misrepresenting his reaction. The DeSantis War Room is a top-notch response team.

Team Trump lying once again and purposely taking @RonDeSantis out of context.

Here’s his full answer: “So look, there’s a difference between being brought up on criminal charges and doing things like, for example, I think it was shown how he was in the White House and didn’t do… https://t.co/Nhe7D6CSxV pic.twitter.com/h89QggvarG

— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) July 18, 2023

No matter what DeSantis said, it wouldn’t be good enough for Trump. That’s not the problem of Ron DeSantis. DeSantis gave a good answer. And his response to Team Trump was even better.

DeSantis seems to be gaining ground in New Hampshire, according to the latest poll. Trump is losing ground. Trump is at 37% and DeSantis is at 23% there now. New Hampshire is a crucial early state – the first in the primary schedule because Iowa is a caucus state.

According to a University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll released on Tuesday, Trump enjoys the support of 37% of likely Republican presidential primary voters in the Granite State. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis stands at 23%, with the rest of the large field of contenders polling in the single digits.

Trump’s 14-point lead over DeSantis is down from a 20-point margin in the previous UNH survey, which was conducted in April before the Florida governor launched his presidential campaign.

It’s not earthshaking but it’s movement. Trump expects to keep a large lead over the others. We’ll see if he gets a bounce from this latest announcement. We know he’ll be fundraising from it.