Republicans Abandoning Donald Trump After Arrest: 'Doesn't Look Good'

Republicans are abandoning Donald Trump as he faces charges related to the mishandling of classified documents.

On Tuesday Trump became the first former president to appear before a federal judge on criminal charges.

He pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he hoarded classified documents and refused government demands to give them back.

Trump is also leading the Republican field for the 2024 presidential nomination, holding onto his status as frontrunner despite the legal troubles he faces. However, one poll indicates support has tumbled in the wake of the indictment.

Top House Republicans and many of Trump's rivals for the GOP nomination have chosen to unreservedly defend Trump since the indictment unsealed last week charged him with 37 felony counts, many under the Espionage Act. The indictment accuses him of illegally storing classified documents in his bedroom, bathroom, shower and other locations at Mar-a-Lago and trying to hide them from the Justice Department as investigators demanded them back.

However, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has notably steered clear of defending Trump, indicating a split among Republicans over how to handle Trump's legal woes.

Several Republicans spoke out against Trump following his history-making court appearance on Tuesday.

"I have serious concerns about anybody that has a reckless disregard for the handling of classified documents," Rep. Steve Womack told CNN's Manu Raju.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw said: "It's very problematic. There's a reason I'm not defending it."

Rep. Tim Burchett said he would not support Trump for the GOP nomination if he is convicted on felony charges.

"Honestly, on the surface, I wouldn't," he told Raju. "That doesn't look good."

Rep. Ken Buck has also said he would not back Trump if he is convicted.

"Let's just look at Donald Trump's words in 2016. He said that Hillary Clinton was unfit for the White House because of the way she handled classified information," he said. "I think his words have set the standard that America will look at in determining whether he is fit for president."

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski told Raju that the indictment is a "pretty comprehensive condemnation" of Trump's actions.

"When this came to his attention, he chose to not return it," she added.

Murkowski also said Republicans needed to take the matter seriously.

"I don't care whether you are a Trump supporter or a Trump opposer, you have to take this seriously," she said. "So to just say that whoever has delivered the message needs to be taken out, I'm sorry, we don't do that."

Rep. Don Bacon added: "We can't just deny what President Trump did was wrong. It's clear as day wrong."

Thomas Gift, told Newsweek that "criticism of Trump over his mishandling of classified documents has been tempered at best. Still, any criticism is more than we've gotten from his GOP compatriots in the past." Gift is an associate professor of political science and director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, U.K.

Gift said former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr's "more pointed critique of Trump on Fox News recently seems to have granted some Republicans almost tacit permission to acknowledge Trump's malfeasance."

He added: "It's understandable that Trump's primary challengers are walking a tightrope, trying to avoid alienating the MAGA base while still knocking Trump down a peg. The big question is whether at some point the dominoes will fall and more Republicans will stop treating Trump with kid gloves as his legal troubles mount. I'm not holding my breath."

Trump earlier this year pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records earlier this year after being indicted in New York on state charges stemming from hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to bury allegations that he had extramarital sexual encounters. He is also facing ongoing investigations in Washington, D.C. and Georgia into his efforts to undo the results of the 2020 election.

Some Republicans have said that the indictment brought against Trump by special counsel Jack Smith in the documents is more serious and credible than the felony charges brought against Trump by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Senate Republican Whip John Thune told The Hill that case was "politically motivated, and the facts were pretty thin."

The indictment in the classified documents case is "serious" and "very detailed," Thune said.

Sen. Mitt Romney said the allegations "are serious and, if proven, would be consistent with his other actions offensive to the national interest, such as withholding defensive weapons from Ukraine for political reasons and failing to defend the Capitol from violent attack and insurrection." He was referring to the incidents that led to Trump being impeached twice while in office.

"I'm increasingly angry as I think about it. The country is going to go through angst and turmoil and that could have been avoided if President Trump would have just turned the documents in when he was asked to do so...This was entirely avoidable if he just turned in the documents. Why didn't he?"

Update 6/14/23, 5:30 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add comment from Thomas Gift.