Trump supporters ‘Maga’ Mary Kelley, right, of Lake Worth, and Kathy Clark of Lantana carry flags Thursday evening as they protest near former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. following the news that Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury.
Rebecca Blackwell | AP photo
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News of the indictment lit up message boards, websites and social media platforms popular with Trump supporters. Some discounted it as fake, while others noted the indictment came just before the start of Holy Week and compared Trump to a persecuted Christ.
Scattered among the comments were calls for Trump supporters to rise up in protest.
Still others speculated that Trump’s indictment would galvanize Republicans ahead of the 2024 election and serve as a precedent allowing for future prosecutions of Democrats.
Here are highlights from around the country.
GOP support
Republicans from the former president’s sons to GOP senators lashed out at the indictment. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the conservative chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a one-word reaction: “Outrageous.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed that “the House of Representatives will hold Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account.”
One of Trump’s most loyal supporters in Congress, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, said, without citing evidence, that Trump was innocent and “the only one standing in the way of these modern day tyrants.”
Eric Trump, the former president’s son, said: “This is third-world prosecutorial misconduct.” In a text to The Associated Press, he called the indictment an opportunistic targeting of a political opponent in a campaign year.
“This is stuff that would make Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot — it would make them blush. It’s so flagrant. It’s so crazed,” Donald Trump Jr. said in a live-stream video shortly after the news broke.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who had served as Trump’s press secretary at the White House, said Bragg should resign.
Dems cite rule of law
Democrats, meanwhile, said if Trump broke the law, he should face charges like any American. Rep. Adam Schiff, the California Democrat, said in a tweet: “The indictment of a former president is unprecedented. But so too is the unlawful conduct in which Trump has been engaged.”
Schiff said: “A nation of laws must hold the rich and powerful accountable, even when they hold high office. Especially when they do. To do otherwise is not democracy.”
Democratic New York Rep. Dan Goldman, who served as lead counsel in the first impeachment trial of Trump, said in a statement that “no person is above the law.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, a former federal prosecutor, said the justice system has an obligation to pursue the facts and law wherever they lead. “Former President Trump will have the same rights as any criminal defendant, and the justice system will presume him innocent until proven guilty,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made a public plea for peace, saying the former president is subject to the same laws as every American.
“He will be able to avail himself of the legal system and a jury, not politics, to determine his fate according to the facts and the law,” Schumer said. “I encourage both Mr. Trump’s critics and supporters to let the process proceed peacefully and according to the law.”
Potential campaign rivals weigh in
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who’s exploring running for the GOP nomination for president, said on Twitter that the indictment was based on politics.
“The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head,” he added. “It is un-American.”
Asa Hutchinson, a potential 2024 Republican candidate and the former governor of Arkansas, called it “a dark day for America.” Hutchinson said it is important that Trump be presumed innocent while the case plays out.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the Virginia Republican often mentioned as a possible presidential candidate, on Twitter called it “beyond belief” that Bragg had sought to indict Trump “for pure political gain.”
Another possible rival to Trump, biotech investor Vivek Ramaswamy, said the indictment threatens to undermine public trust in the electoral and justice systems.
Mike Pompeo, who served in the Trump administration, sent a fundraising email to potential supporters noting the indictment.
Will Trump be extradited?
A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said it wasn’t immediately clear when Trump would be arraigned.
“This evening we contacted Mr. Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan D.A.’s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal. Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected,” the statement said.
DeSantis said in his tweet that Florida will not assist in an extradition request for Trump.
If defendants are notified of an indictment or an impending arrest, they often arrange to turn themselves in. Answering criminal charges in New York means being fingerprinted and photographed, fielding basic questions such as name and date of birth, and getting arraigned. All told, defendants are typically detained for at least several hours.
But there is no playbook for booking an ex-president.
A former president isn’t likely to be paraded in handcuffs across a sidewalk or through a crowded courthouse hallway, experts say.
Stormy Daniels pops bubbly
The porn star at the center of the case took to Twitter to thank her supporters.
“I have so many messages coming in that I can’t respond … also don’t want to spill my champagne,” Stormy Daniels tweeted.
She didn’t waste an opportunity to make some merchandise sales.
“#Teamstormy merch/autograph orders are pouring in, too! Thank you for that as well but allow a few extra days for shipment,” she said.
Trump uses indictment to raise cash
Like Stormy Daniels, Trump didn’t let the moment pass without trying to make some money off it.
Moments after media outlets began to report the indictment, Trump’s campaign was out with a fundraising missive calling for donations ahead of a Friday deadline when first-quarter figures are made public. He said Democrats will be watching to see if the “witch hunt out of Manhattan weakened our movement.”
Crowds form outside Mar-a-Lago
Hours after word of the indictment emerged, Trump supporters and opponents gathered outside his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Kathy Clark, a 75-year-old retired police officer from suburban Palm Beach County, stood along the road holding a “Trump Won” banner. She called Michael Cohen a liar and the indictment a farce.
“Look at Bill Clinton and his girls in the White House. I don’t care about Trump’s personal life — that’s between him, his wife and God,” Clark said.
Across the street, Victoria Doyle, a Palm Beach County lawyer, stood alone holding a sign saying “He Lost.”
“I’m celebrating our justice system, holding somebody accountable for his crimes,” Doyle said. “This man has used and abused our system for years and continuously lied to people, manipulated people, hired countless lawyers to intimidate people.”