The political landscape in America is ever-changing, and nowhere is that more evident than in the Republican Party’s current situation.
On Wednesday night, eight Republican presidential candidates took to the debate stage and were posed with a unique and unexpected question: Would they support former President Donald Trump as the party’s 2024 nominee if he were convicted in a court of law?
The candidates included Former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Senator Tim Scott.
Former President Trump currently holds a commanding lead in polls for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, although he notably did not attend the debate.
This is partly because he faces criminal indictments in four jurisdictions, which was not lost on the candidates at the debate. The candidates were asked to raise their hands if they would support Trump even if he ended up convicted.
Only Hutchinson, an outspoken critic of Trump since his tenure in the White House, kept his hand down the whole time.
Christie, initially among the candidates to raise their hands, quickly retracted his gesture after expressing, “Someone’s got to stop normalizing this conduct.” The former New Jersey Governor said, “Whether or not you believe that the criminal charges are right or wrong, the conduct is beneath the office of the President of the United States.”
Hutchinson, who also spoke out against the Trump administration’s conduct in the past, reminded his opponents that he “said Trump was morally disqualified from being president again as a result of what happened on Jan. 6.”
He then stated that “more people understand the importance of that,” adding that “Trump may be disqualified under the 14th Amendment from being president again as a result of the insurrection.”
It is unclear what the outcome of President Trump’s many indictments and whether his Republican challengers will honor their pledge to support whoever becomes the party’s nominee in 2024. We know that all of the candidates’ decisions will help shape the future of the Republican Party.
