GOP Candidate Responds to Trump Indictment: ‘Dark Moment in American History’

Entrepreneur and political activist Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during the Vision 2024 National Conservative Forum at the Charleston Area Convention Center in Charleston, South Carolina, on March 18, 2023. (Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images)

Vivek Ramaswamy described the indictment of Donald J. Trump as a “dark moment in American history” on March 30, warning that “we’re skating on thin ice as a country.”

“It is un-American for the ruling party to use police power to arrest its political rivals.,” said Ramaswamy in a post on Twitter.

Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur known for his anti-ESG activism, is running for GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination.

That pits him against Trump as well as former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, among other candidates.

In his comments regarding the indictment, Ramaswamy sounded a dire note about the latest moves against his 2024 rival.

He warned that the arrest of Trump “will undermine public trust in our electoral system & justice system,” saying that the United States could be hurtling towards a national divorce.

A spokesperson for Ramaswamy told The Epoch Times that the indictment would not deter the entrepreneur from his pursuit of the highest office in the land.

“He is running to lead a national revival,” the spokesperson said.

Trump allies have made similar comments.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who previously served as Trump’s personal lawyer, said the indictment marked a “sad day in America.”

“There is no crime here,” said Kari Lake, who ran for governor of Arizona in 2022.

A Manhattan jury voted to indict the former president on March 30, as confirmed to The Epoch Times by Joseph Tacopina, an attorney for Trump. The Manhattan district attorney’s office said a date for the arraignment, when Trump will formally be handed the indictment document, has yet to be set.

Tacopina has previously stated that, in the event of an indictment, Trump would surrender voluntarily.

While the exact charges remain under seal, the investigation stems from allegations Trump arranged to have then-attorney Michael Cohen pay adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 in October 2016 so she would not disclose their alleged affair. The former president denies those accusations.

The indictment, which is sealed, followed weeks of proceedings led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Testimony from Cohen is thought to be at the core of Bragg’s case against Trump.

Robert Costello, a former attorney for Cohen, also testified.

In a statement released on March 30, Trump characterized the events as an “unthinkable” move by Democrats and their allies.

“Our movement, and our party—united and strong—will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden,” Trump said in his statement.

Some experts have argued the statute of limitations has expired on any felony charge Bragg may bring.

It’s thought that Bragg will claim that the charge isn’t stale because the statute of limitations was paused while Trump was outside of New York, initially in Washington and then in Florida.