It has been noted that Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has denounced the Colorado Supreme Court for its decision to throw his rival, former President Donald Trump, off the ballot.
However, he’s also well aware that Trump is similarly inclined to use government power to hurt his political opponents via Mediaite.
“There was no trial on any of this, they basically just said, what, you can’t be on the ballot? How does that work? What’s the limiting principle for that?” asked an incredulous DeSantis last week.
In an interview with RealClearPolitics’ Philip Wegmann, DeSantis noted that position, calling it “a matter of principle” and expressing his concern that it would lead “down a road that’s not going to be good for this country when a court can disqualify you without a criminal conviction.”
“But let’s just be clear,” DeSantis told Wegmann. “Trump is fine with weaponization if it’s against people he doesn’t like.”
DeSantis cited an ethics complaint the Trump campaign filed against him earlier this ear as one piece of evidence of Trump’s willingness to use the government against his enemies.
“If one of Trump’s competitors was removed by a state Supreme Court, is there any chance in hell he would remove himself in solidarity? He’d spike the football!” insisted the governor.
In an interview with Univision last month, Trump said that the criminal indictments leveled against him have inspired him.
“They have done something that allows the next party … if I happen to be president and I see somebody who’s doing well and beating me very badly, I say, ‘Go down and indict them.’ They’d be out of business. They’d be out of the election,” he explained.
In another instance, Trump declared that “when I WIN the Presidency of the United States,” NBC News, MSNBC, “and others of the LameStream Media will be thoroughly scrutinized for their knowingly dishonest and corrupt coverage of people, things, and events.”
“Why should NBC, or any other of the corrupt & dishonest media companies, be entitled to use the very valuable Airwaves of the USA, FREE? They are a true threat to Democracy and are, in fact, THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!” he added. “The Fake News Media should pay a high price for what they have done to our once great Country.”
