Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said Tuesday that indicting former President Donald Trump “isn’t worth” the damage that the legal proceedings were doing to the country.
Trump plead “not guilty” to all counts during his arraignment Tuesday, after Special Counsel Jack Smith secured a grand jury indictment on 37 counts, including violations of the Espionage Act, that was unsealed Friday.
“I’m not running for president … but that’s exactly the kinds of things you are going to hear. That’s what happens in polarized, volatile politics,” Rubio told Fox News host Sandra Smith after she asked him about Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s promise to pardon Trump. “People will go to their corner, rally around their tribe and further divide the country and it isn’t worth it.” (RELATED: ‘Do Your Homework First’: Ramaswamy Blasts Asa Hutchinson Over Trump Indictment Comments)
Ramaswamy called on other Republican presidential candidates to say whether or not they would pardon Trump during a Tuesday morning press conference in Miami. Ramaswamy announced he filed a Freedom of Information Act Monday relating to communications between President Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Smith.
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“I’m not saying the documents should have been there, just like they shouldn’t have been in Biden’s garage either … the indictment, the damage it’s doing to the country, the damage it’s already inflicted is far beyond damage than any of the president storing this in cardboard boxes somewhere,” Rubio added.
Rubio predicted Ramaswamy’s promise would be popular among Republican primary voters.
“If you took a poll among Republican GOP voters that position that he’s taken about the proactive pardoning is going to be very popular. Let’s say Republicans are not a majority, it’s at least 40-something percent of the country, that’s a lot of people,” Rubio said. “In some parts of the country it’s a super majority, depending on the part of the state.”
“These are the divisive, damaging, things that an indictment over what, for what, what was the damage, was this stolen, and sold to the Iranians, sold to the Saudis, given over to the Russians?” Rubio asked. “That allegation’s not been made. No one’s made that allegation, so at the end of the day, you have to weigh the damage of the indictment versus the damage of the allegations.”
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