Republicans Promising Trump Pardon Are Assuming He's Guilty: GOP Strategist

Republican presidential candidates promising to pardon former President Donald Trump are assuming he is guilty, GOP political strategist Susan Del Percio said on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 charges in the Department of Justice's (DOJ) investigation surrounding classified documents found at the former president's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. Federal prosecutors have accused him of mishandling these classified files, some of which were allegedly related to national security and defense, as well as obstructing the government's efforts to retrieve them. Trump, however, has argued the files were declassified despite not going through the formal process, and that the DOJ is conducting a politically-motivated investigation aimed at weakening his standing in the 2024 presidential election.

The Republicans challenging Trump for the GOP presidential nomination have largely rallied behind him, echoing his claims that the DOJ has treated him unfairly. Several of these candidates have said they would issue a pardon for him if they are elected to the presidency in 2024 as they seek to win support from the conservative voters who backed Trump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.

Del Percio, a MSNBC political analyst and a Republican strategist who is critical of Trump, ripped these "ridiculous" pledges to pardon the former president on Sunday during an interview appearance. She added that candidates saying they would pardon Trump are assuming he is already guilty, despite the trial for the former president not even have started.

MSNBC host Al Sharpton asked Del Percio about whether it is likely Trump will receive a boost in popularity after last week's indictment, as his polling among conservatives improved after FBI agents seized classified documents from his residence last August.

Del Percio said Trump will likely see that boost "unless one of the people who are seeking the Republican nomination start really going toe-to-toe with Donald Trump and calling him out and not promising these ridiculous pardons, which, by the way, makes the assumption that Donald Trump is guilty, so he'll need a pardon."

She added: "Everyone out there seems to be fighting, especially [Florida Governor] Ron DeSantis, to be an option to Donald Trump. Well, right now, there is no need to have an option to Donald Trump because Trump is in the race."

As GOP candidates try to strike a balance between differentiating themselves from Trump while not alienating his supporters, who will likely be a key voting bloc in the primary, there needs to be "some form of break away from another candidate" more willing to criticize the former president directly, according to Del Percio.

"Even if they are the ones to come in second and knock DeSantis out, it could show movement that Trump's base may be with Trump, but there's a lot of other Republicans out there who have had enough of the former president," she said.

Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign for comment via email.

Candidates such as businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and talk show host Larry Elder have said they would pardon Trump in the classified documents case, with Ramaswamy urging all presidential candidates to promise to pardon him if elected. Former South Carolina Governor and United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley has said she would be inclined to pardon Trump, despite previously calling the actions outlined in the indictment "reckless."

Other 2024 presidential hopefuls, however, have been more critical of the idea. Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has criticized other candidates for promising pardons, saying doing so "undermines the rule of law." He said during a Sunday appearance on ABC News' This Week that he would oppose Trump pardoning himself.

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday said the question is "premature" and that he does not "know why some of my competitors in the Republican primary presume the president will be found guilty."