Trump's top GOP rivals say they would pardon him 'in the best interest of the country'

Just before 2024 caucuses and primaries begin, Donald Trump's top Republican rivals are making sure voters know they would pardon him if they're elected president.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley have given their clearest answers in recent days on why they would pardon Trump, who faces dozens of charges in four criminal trials.

"I think we've got to move on as a country and, you know, like Ford did to Nixon, because the divisions are just not in the country’s interest," DeSantis told reporters Friday in Iowa.

A day earlier, Haley said pardoning Trump would be "in the best interest of the country."

"What’s in the best interest of the country is not to have an 80-year-old man sitting in jail that continues to divide our country," Haley said at a campaign event in Plymouth, New Hampshire. "What's in the best interest of our country is to pardon him so that we can move on as a country and no longer talk about him."

Backpedaling from backlash: Nikki Haley alleged she was set up by Democratic 'plant' after being asked what caused the Civil War

Haley, whose recent surge has made her Trump's closest contender in the Granite State, has indicated her preference for a pardon throughout her 2024 campaign.

“When you look at a pardon, the issue is less about guilt and more about what’s good for the country,” Haley said in a radio interview in June.

Fellow GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has been even more outspoken, condemning the indictments against Trump as politically motivated and telling USA TODAY in July that a pardon would be necessary in "moving forward with integrity in this country."

Among his list of pending legal challenges, Trump faces charges from a federal grand jury for allegedly organizing a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election. The former president and GOP presidential front-runner was also indicted in Fulton County, Georgia, in August on accusations that he tried to steal the state's 2020 electoral votes.

Trump pleaded not guilty to charges in these and his two other cases.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley say they would pardon Donald Trump