TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) – Former President Donald Trump’s third indictment Tuesday had his 2024 GOP opponents scrambling to respond. It was a mixed bag of reactions. Some blamed the politicized justice system, while others called Trump unfit for office.

The GOP front runner, himself, has labeled the indictment as fake and repeatedly took to his social media platform, Truth Social since the latest indictment came down late Tuesday.

But reactions from candidates trailing Trump are all over the place. While some took swings at a politically motivated justice system, “A D.C. jury would indict a ham sandwich and convict a ham sandwich if it was a Republican ham sandwich,” Gov. DeSantis said on Fox News Wednesday.

Others like former Vice President, Mike Pence, took swings at the former President saying, “President Trump asked me to put him over the Constitution, but I chose the Constitution and I always will,” he said at a campaign stop in Indiana Wednesday.

But three indictments and two impeachments later – criticism of Trump hasn’t really stuck, and political experts think they know why.

“Donald Trump is a movement more than a candidate. And there is 43% of Americans that follow him into whatever battlefield, whether it’s unraveling democracy or not,” Tara Newsom said.

While Newsom believes this latest indictment could have the biggest implications for the former President, she also expects he’ll still see a boost in the polls and cash, just like the past two indictments.

A large portion of the Republican Party continues to support the former President in spite of everything – or perhaps even more so as a result of it. However, Democrats are united in their front – repeatedly pointing to internal divisions within the GOP. 

The former President’s arraignment is set for Thursday in Washington, D.C.