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(CNN) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis broke his silence on Donald Trump’s legal troubles on Monday, criticizing the Manhattan District Attorney’s pursuit of an indictment against the former president, saying the issue was in Trump’s adoption state. His office has vowed not to get involved if it goes so far.
But DeSantis, a rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has fallen short of endorsing the former president, instead amid Trump’s attempts at political revival and a third white campaign. , seemed to be making fun of the situation he was in. House. A grand jury is in the final stages of deciding whether Trump should be indicted for alleged payments related to the allegations against adult film star Stormy Daniels.
“I don’t know what it takes to pay a pornstar hush money to remain silent about some sort of incident,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Panama City, Florida. , can’t talk about it.”
“Here in Florida, we have a real problem to deal with,” added DeSantis.
The disdainful cynicism quickly traveled across the state to Trump-evicted Mar-a-Lago while awaiting word on the New York grand jury findings. His allies soon began attacking DeSantis on social media and would face political costs for failing to recognize that Republicans were rallying around Trump amid mounting legal threats.
In a statement posted on his social media site Truth Social, Trump responded by leveling out a series of personal attacks against DeSantis.
“As Ron DeSanctimonias gets older, wiser, and more famous, he becomes more and more of a female and even ‘underage’ classmate (or perhaps a guy!). You’ll want to fight!” Trump wrote.
As part of the post, Trump also shared a photo suggesting DeSantis behaved inappropriately to a teenage girl while teaching history in Georgia in her early 20s.
Monday’s episode showed the growing rivalry between two big Republicans as they battle for party supremacy. Trump has suggested that his arrest is imminent, and if he’s in Florida at that time, it may require a coordinated effort by police in DeSantis state.
DeSantis said he was unaware of his arrangements with local law enforcement regarding Trump and said he was “not interested in getting involved in some kind of hoax circus.”
DeSantis’ belated statements stand in stark contrast to the strong defense provided on behalf of Trump last August when federal officials seized documents from the former president’s Palm Beach estate. Just hours after the raid, DeSantis tweeted that the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago was “a further escalation of the federal agency’s weaponization against the administration’s political opponents, with people like Hunter Biden wearing child gloves.” are being dealt with,” he said.
But this time, there was no such tweet from DeSantis. DeSantis has been silent for days amid reports that a New York grand jury is interviewing witnesses, but has debated Trump amid escalating attacks from the former president and his supporters. Instead, DeSantis hosted an event last week focused on helping victims of Hurricane Ian and helping the pandemic. He posted a photo from his World Baseball Classic photo standing next to his Marlins mascot in Miami.
Last weekend, when other Republicans criticized Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for pursuing indictments in a case dating back to the 2016 election, Trump supporters spoke to DeSantis to defend the former. engaged in a coordinated pressure campaign to president.
Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller tweeted: “Thanks to Vice President @Mike_Pence and @VivekGRamaswamy for pointing out how far-left Democrats are trying to divide our country in the name of partisan politics. “Radio silence from Governor @RonDeSantisFL and Ambassador @NikkiHaley.”
Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., tweeted on Sunday, “Republicans who spoke up quickly against this corrupt BS and Republicans who waited to see which way the wind was blowing. Please be careful.
MAGA, Inc tracked comments made by Republicans about potential criminal charges and sent several emails accusing DeSantis of “silence.” Trump supporters, believing that DeSantis must provide Trump with support, acknowledged that this was a concerted effort to force DeSantis to intervene in the matter.
When DeSantis finally reviewed it on Monday, it came out during another press conference on the central bank’s digital currency. This is an area of concern among some conservatives of late, but given the revelations about Trump’s lawsuit, it’s hardly a topic of the day. He didn’t mention Trump’s legal status until asked by an individual at the Florida Standard.
DeSantis echoed other criticisms of Bragg, accusing Democrats of seeking indictments against Trump for political reasons. He compares Bragg to Tampa’s local state attorney, Andrew Warren, and DeSantis, who controversially resigned last year over his politics, is a Hungarian-born billionaire, progressive donor and often conservative. He linked them to George Soros, who was at the center of a conspiracy.
“If there is a prosecutor who ignores the crimes that happen every day in his jurisdiction and they choose to go back years and try to use something about hush money payments to porn stars, it is It’s an example of pursuing crime, and I think the weaponization of the political agenda and office is fundamentally wrong,” DeSantis said.
But DeSantis also seemed less concerned about Bragg’s pursuit of Trump compared to the city’s crime-related issues.
“It’s bad, but the real victims are ordinary New Yorkers, ordinary people in all these different jurisdictions who are being victimized every day for the reckless political intent that Soros’ DA brings into their work. American,” he said. “They ignore crime and empower criminals.”
Haley said late Monday that Trump’s indictment would be “for political allegations.” The former South Carolina governor, who announced his White House campaign last month, told Fox News’ Brett Byer, “What we do know is that when you get involved in a political prosecution like this, it’s more about justice than justice.” It is revenge.”
“I think it’s better for the country to talk about what the American people care about than have to deal with reprisals by some politicians in New York,” added Haley, a former ambassador to the United Nations. . Trump.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Kit Maher and Brian Rokus contributed to this report.
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