Several Democrats have spoken out against the FBI raid on former President Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago.
Former Democratic candidates for presidents Andrew Yang and Tulsi Gabbard both criticized the FBI’s actions, with the tech entrepreneur acknowledging it “seems political” and the former Hawaii congresswoman going further, noting the raid was a “blatant abuse of power.”
On Twitter, Yang explained he’s no fan of the former president but “a fundamental part of his appeal has been that it’s him against a corrupt government establishment. This raid strengthens that case for millions of Americans who will see this as unjust persecution.”
It seems like this was authorized by a local judge and a particular FBI office without buy-in or notification of higher levels of government. But literally no one will believe that or make a distinction. It’s probably bureaucratic but it seems political.
— Andrew Yang???????? (@AndrewYang) August 9, 2022
It looks increasingly like the FBI raid was to find mishandled classified documents and not some other DOJ investigation which was my first thought. Mishandling documents doesn’t seem like raid material. It does however seem like excellent campaign material for Trump.
— Andrew Yang???????? (@AndrewYang) August 9, 2022
Gabbard, meanwhile, appeared on Fox News to denounce the polarization of the Justice Department.
"This is something that every American should be extremely concerned about because this raid is just the latest serious escalation of this disturbing trend that we have seen of blatant abuse of power by those in power to not only protect their friends, but to target their political opponents or frankly anyone who dares to dissent or challenge or disagree or even question what this administration is doing," she said. "And there are a number of examples that we can point to not only abuse of power within the Department of Justice, within the FBI or law enforcement agencies, but also the Department of Homeland Security and the IRS."
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, while critical of the raid, appeared concerned with how it will affect the January 6 committee's investigations.
When they’ve gone too far even for Cuomo…. https://t.co/FO3fgtTls2
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 9, 2022
Conservatives pointed out that some of these statements went further than what GOP senators said.
"How is it possible that Andrew f*****g Cuomo had a better response to the raid than both of the Republican senators from South Carolina," Greg Price wondered, linking to a video of Sen. Tim Scott's appearance on CBS.
.@SenatorTimScott says the American public needs to let the FBI’s search and DOJ investigation of former Pres. Trump “play out” before jumping to conclusions — adding that this could raise more questions about whether the agency is “doing their job apolitical.” pic.twitter.com/pugU4PcKYe
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) August 9, 2022
Others felt Graham would be all talk, no action in response to the raid.
Lindsey Graham is going to talk a lot, but he's not going to actually do anything. pic.twitter.com/wBbACVptCn
— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) August 10, 2022