DeSantis plays both sides in comments on a possible Trump indictment

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
(Image credit: Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

After days of intense pressure from allies of Donald Trump to weigh in on the former president's looming potential indictment for allegedly orchestrating hush money payments during the 2016 election, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) finally broke his silence on Monday. The governor offering a superficially enthusiastic defense of the man currently leading the GOP's 2024 presidential nomination race — which DeSantis is widely expected to join in the coming months.

Asked during a press conference on his thoughts regarding the "rumored Trump indictment" and his possible role in helping extradite the former president to Manhattan where the charges would be filed, DeSantis lambasted the potential charges as "politicized prosecution" from "Soros-funded prosecutor" Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. But in defending Trump from Bragg's "weaponizing" agenda, DeSantis made sure to remind listeners several times over just what it is that Trump has been accused of, telling the press "I don't know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair."

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Rafi Schwartz, The Week US

Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.