Fox News host Jesse Watters recently question Republican presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis if a potential prosecution of former President Donald Trump arising from his post-2020 election actions helps his campaign via Media Ite.
Like all GOP candidates not named Trump, the governor is in a tough spot on how to react to the former president’s numerous legal problems. Trump has been charged in federal court on 37 counts related to his retention of government documents after leaving office.
Elsewhere, he faces state charges in New York for allegedly falsifying business records. He pleaded guilty to all counts and remains wildly popular among the GOP base.
Meanwhile, last week, Trump announced he received a target letter from Special Counsel Jack Smith regarding his actions after the 2020 election, where Trump attempted to overturn that contest by embarking on a pressure campaign on GOP officials in states he lost. It is expected Trump will be indicted in that case any day now.
Appearing on Tuesday’s Jesse Watters Primetime, DeSantis was asked about the looming indictment.
“Sources say that [Attorney General Merrick] Garland’s DOJ is going to be indicting former President Trump on the Jan. 6 situation,” the host said. “Do you think that helps your campaign?”
DeSantis declined to answer and railed against such charges:
“I don’t think it’s good for the country. I think at the end of the day, look, if somebody commits a bonafide crime, like you rob a bank or whatever, high or low in status and society, you know, we have a rule of law.
But I think what they’re doing in this, is they are taking some of these old statutes from like Reconstruction Era, violation of rights or conspiracy against rights, and they’re stretching it to try to fit this conduct. That’s not good prosecution, generally. But when you have a politically charged situation, that makes it even more difficult to justify.
So, we don’t know with the reports. Hopefully, it’s not something that happens. I don’t think it’ll be good for the country, but if they do something with these flimsy charges, that is going to add to the fire.”
The governor then pledged to fire FBI Director Christopher Wray if he becomes president.
