‘Very serious charges’: Sen. Young reacts to Trump indictment in election subversion case
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — U.S. Sen. Todd Young on Tuesday said the latest charges against former President Donald Trump are very serious but he deserves his day in court.
In the week since Trump was indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, many Indiana Republicans including Reps. Jim Banks and Rudy Yakym have leaped to the former president’s defense, accusing the Department of Justice of operating a two-tiered justice system rigged to favor President Joe Biden.
In a wide-ranging interview with News 8, Young took a wait-and-see approach.
The charges “should not, in any way, be diminished or dismissed by Americans. That’s why I’m not doing that,” he said.
“But I would also say that President Trump, whatever one thinks of him, is deserving of due process and we’ll have to make sure that indeed takes place in the coming months.”
Young said he has not yet decided whose campaign he will support. He said he is looking for someone who will move the Republican Party beyond relitigating the 2020 election and look to the future, a point former Vice President and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has made in his campaign appearances.
Young stopped short of endorsing Pence but said he would restore a great deal of dignity and trust to the Oval Office.
Pence’s campaign announced Monday night he had met the donor threshold to qualify for the first Republican presidential primary debate on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee. His polling numbers have slipped lately. Pence now is in fourth place in the national RealClearPolitics average, with 5.1% of support from Republican voters, behind tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Young said it’s too early in the campaign to assess the viability of Pence’s campaign or anyone else’s.
“That (debate) will be the first of, I think, many opportunities to assess the candidates in one venue,” he said.