Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty
For a number of Republican presidential hopefuls, the prospect of Donald Trump self-immolating from a federal criminal indictment seems like the rare development that could upend the 2024 primary in their favor.
But don’t expect the primary field to light the match—or even fan the flames—as they continue to hold out hope that someone else will magically convince primary voters that it is a bad idea to nominate someone charged with stealing sensitive national security secrets.
Since the news broke Thursday of Trump’s indictment, on charges related to his mishandling of classified documents, every serious GOP presidential contender, save for one, has leapt to the former president’s defense in some way.