Source: (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Many GOP presidential candidates say they plan to pardon former President Trump once they are in office.
For Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, that is getting a little too presumptuous since Trump has not been convicted of any of the crimes he’s accused of regarding a federal indictment.
“I don’t understand why some of the other people running for president in the Republican primary assume (Trump) will be found guilty,” Pence said on Fox News Sunday. “It’s terribly premature, and it shows disrespect to our judicial system to talk about that now.”
Pence added that to talk about pardons now means that one has to assume that Trump is guilty of the charges he faces. That is why Pence dodged a question of whether or not he would pardon Trump if elected.
“The charges in the indictment are serious,” Pence said. “I can’t defend what is alleged, but the president is entitled to his day in court.”
A recent survey by NBC News of likely Republican voters shows that the party is divided right down the middle. Trump has a sizeable lead on the rest of the field of candidates, even Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, with 50 percent of voters supporting Trump.
But, the survey shows the other 50 percent said they would likely support another candidate.
