Nikki Haley speaks as Ron DeSantis listens during the Republican presidential primary debate. Photo: REBECCA BLACKWELL/AP
Donald Trump's main Republican rivals have attacked him, warning that his criminal cases will jeopardize the GOP's electoral hopes.
Ron DeSantis, 45, and Nikki Haley, 51, have stepped up their criticism of the GOP leader just under two weeks before the party's 2024 primary. The competition begins.
During separate question-and-answer sessions with voters on CNN, both candidates sounded the alarm about Mr. Trump's four criminal cases.
“Chaos is following him,” Ms. Haley told the Iowa audience, adding: “ We cannot allow the country to be in turmoil and the world to burn and endure four more years of chaos. We won't survive this.»
Mr. DeSantis warned that Trump's presence in court to fight his 91 felony charges would «give Democrats an advantage» if the former president becomes the Republican nominee.
Mr. Trump faces four cases related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, his handling of classified documents and his concealment of cash payments to a porn star.
The 77-year-old denies any wrongdoing and claims the cases are politically motivated. That argument has proven persuasive among rank-and-file Republicans, with about 61 percent support in average polls.
His most legally dangerous case yet is facing federal charges related to his actions leading up to the Capitol riot. January 6, 2021, trial could begin as early as March in Washington, D.C.
Mr. DeSantis highlighted this case at the beginning of his speech. his attack on Trump on Thursday night. He said: “We are putting the future of the Republican Party and perhaps the future of the nation in the hands of 12 jurors in the Democratic-dominated District of Columbia.”
The Florida governor criticized the events of January 6, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed Congress in an attempt to prevent him from confirming Joe Biden's victory.
«It hasn't been a good day for the country,» Mr. DeSantis said during an appearance on CNN, a marked change in his rhetoric on the topic.
Mr. Trump, by contrast, called the convicted rioters «patriots» «.
Mr. DeSantis singled out the trial of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, when he launched an attack on Mr. on Trump on Thursday night. Photo: SCOTT MORGAN/REUTERS
The significance of Jan. 6 has divided the country, with Mr. Biden and Democrats portraying it as an attack on the foundations of American democracy while some conservatives spread false claims about the day's events.
Despite Trump's lead among Republican voters , a major poll conducted late last month suggested the verdict could be pre-election. fatal.
Nearly a quarter of his supporters believe he should not be the Republican nominee if convicted of a crime, a New York Times-Siena College poll found.
About a fifth of his supporters also said Mr. Trump should go to prison if he is found guilty in the Jan. 6 case.
Mr. Biden was scheduled to give a major speech in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. battle to mark the third anniversary of the riots on Friday as he launched his 2024 campaign.
The 81-year-old US president has centered his re-election bid on the claim that Trump poses a threat to democracy.
He chose to give a speech near Valley Forge, the famous encampment of George Washington and the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. 
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