How Republican voters reacted to Trump’s indictment

Donald Trump has been charged with 37 counts of unauthorised possession of classified documents and of obstructing efforts to reclaim them.

As the former president campaigns to win back the White House in 2024, the BBC asked Republicans for their reaction to the indictment.

The case was brought by an independent special counsel and approved by a grand jury in Florida – but conservatives on our panel see an effort to disrupt Mr Trump’s presidential run.

And they ask why President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has not been charged for taking classified materials out of secure locations (there is an ongoing investigation into Mr Biden, led by Trump-appointed prosecutor Robert Hur).

Kathleen, a strong anti-abortion voter, backed Trump twice. Though she wants a new Republican nominee, she sympathises with the former president.

I’m really weary of all the politically motivated actions against Mr Trump. It just never ends. It seems like somebody’s trying to get him out of the race, and they’ve been doing this from from the beginning.

Looking at the indictment just makes me feel even more strongly that Mr Trump is not a seasoned politician nor an operative. If one truly wanted to hide documents for nefarious purposes, that’s not the way to go about it.

I think intention is key. What was the motivation? Was it intentional? And did you know the seriousness of it?

I wish Mr Trump and Mr Biden would just spend some quality time with their families, and let’s see some people a little bit younger have a chance at this. Because this is getting kind of old – but I’m actually amazed at Mr Trump’s resiliency.

Luke grew up in a liberal leaning part of the North East. He voted for Donald Trump in 2020.

As someone who no longer supports Trump and roots for his Republican rivals, I still find this development highly troubling.

I don’t doubt the legitimacy of the claims in the indictment, and I do not defend Trump’s actions. However, the motivation behind his prosecution and investigation remains of grave concern.

To claim that these actions were taken in the objective interest of the law is laughable. Where was this interest with the Clintons or Hunter Biden?

I think Joe Biden should be held to the same standard. It’s like, everyone has documents. But if we’re going to prosecute one, prosecute the other. I know the investigation is ongoing, but that’s my view.

The entire Republican establishment has sort of come to his defence, and I think rightfully so.

Rom has been a loyal supporter of Donald Trump and voted for him in both the 2016 and 2020 elections.

Nothing in what I read of the indictment changes my mind. I still view this as a partisan effort designed to neutralise Mr Trump in advance of the 2024 elections.

This is so obviously a blatant attempt to take Mr Trump out of the presidential running. And it is a sad day for our nation, considering that others, including Mr Biden, have been caught with classified documents in their possession.

I’ll even go so far as to say the people behind this in the Department of Justice are bereft of any common sense and good judgement.

All that this has done is further undermine the trust tens of millions of Americans have in their government institutions and in the rule of law. I am shocked, to say the least.

Noah is an anti-abortion activist from Northern Virginia, who voted for Donald Trump in 2020.

I think it is fairly apparent that the charges are politically motivated, and my sentiments remain fairly similar after seeing the indictment.

The Democrat establishment would like nothing more than a weakened front-runner to win the primary. So I would expect indictments to continue to roll in. There is a serious desire by the political left to cut Trump off at the knees.

I think their goal is to both make him the nominee by stirring up his base, and also weaken him for the general election.