VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The indictment of former President Donald Trump continues to get mixed reaction nationwide and in Hampton Roads.
"[The indictment] is going to fire up his supporters. He's going to raise money off of it and I don't think it's going to hurt him that much at all," said Pam Brown, the secretary of the Norfolk GOP.
Trump did not have success in Virginia at the ballot box, losing to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and to Joe Biden in 2020, but he's already declared himself a candidate in 2024.
"I'm keeping my mind open. I want to see who's all in. I want to see if Glenn Youngkin gets in because if he does, in my opinion, I'm there, but if Donald Trump is the nominee I'm going to support him," said Brown.
For others, the window for Trump is closed.
"The man is unfit for office of any kind. I will not support him if he's the nominee of the party," said local attorney Gary Byler.
Byler was Hampton Roads Chair of Trump's 2016 campaign, but then called for his impeachment during the Ukraine scandal in 2019 and did not support him in 2020.
"The man had a lot of flashes of brilliance. He was going to break the mold that everybody wanted and the opportunities he had on infrastructure and other ideas were amazing," said Byler. "Of course, they were all wasted because of obvious fatal personality flaws."
Like Brown, Byler thinks Youngkin could be a good nominee in 2024.
Youngkin has not announced a decision on whether to run in 2024 and poll averages have him at less than one-percent.
"If he runs in that lane - allows [Gov. Ron} DeSantis to be more right and Trump to potentially have this indictment ... [Youngkin] could move forward as a right of center candidate who could appeal to moderate voters," said Dr. Ben Melusky, a political science professor at Old Dominion University.
