Donald Trump’s allies wanted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to weigh in on the criminal charges Trump appears likely to be facing in New York over hush money payments before the 2016 election. “It has been over 24 hours and some people are still quiet. History will judge their silence,” a Trump campaign account tweeted on Sunday. Far-right activist Jack Posobiec said “I’m taking receipts on everyone,” singling out DeSantis.
Well, DeSantis addressed the issue on Monday, and Trump and his allies probably won’t be happy about it.
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While DeSantis blasted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as a “Soros-funded prosecutor,” the headline quote he offered will be this: “I don't know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. I just, I can't speak to that.”
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That was a brief part of DeSantis’ fairly extended comments on the possible Trump charges. He did play the loyal Republican with his repeated invocations of George Soros, the favored subject of Republican antisemitic dog whistles who did contribute to Bragg’s election through the Color of Change PAC. But the line everyone is going to remember? It’s “I don't know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair.”
Even when DeSantis was offering up the “this is political persecution” Republican talking point, he managed to get “porn star hush money” in there, saying, “If you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction and he chooses to go back many many years ago to try to use something about porn star hush money payments, that’s an example of pursuing a political agenda and weaponizing the office and I think that’s fundamentally wrong.”
DeSantis even managed to use his attack on Bragg as a “Soros D.A.” to pivot to Ron DeSantis And Why He Is Awesome, saying, “These Soros district attorneys are a menace to society, and I’m just glad that I’m the only governor in the country that’s actually removed one from office during my tenure.”
DeSantis then moved to put himself above the whole circus—one he on the surface blamed on that “Soros D.A.,” but with the subtle implication that when Ron DeSantis is in charge, messes like this don’t happen. “In terms of our … we are not involved in this, won’t be involved in this. I have no interest in getting involved in some type of manufactured circus by some Soros D.A., okay? He’s trying to do a political spectacle, he’s trying to virtue-signal for his base. I’ve got real issues I’ve got to deal with here in the state of Florida.”
Got that, Donald? Ron doesn’t think it’s a “real issue” if you’re arrested and charged with a crime. And when DeSantis said he wouldn’t get involved, that was a signal that he wouldn’t try to block Trump’s extradition from Florida to New York if it comes to that.
DeSantis continued to twist the “this isn’t a real issue” knife: “I’ve got to spend my time on issues that actually matter to people. I can’t spend my time worrying about things of that nature, so we’re not going to be involved in it in any way. I’m fighting for Floridians and I’m fighting back against Biden, that’s what I do every single day.”
Ron DeSantis has no interest in being Donald Trump’s white knight here. Whether that ends up helping DeSantis or hurting him is an interesting question, as legal peril once again causes many Republicans to circle the wagons around Trump. It will definitely lead to renewed attacks from Trump—if he has the time to be attacking his political opponents while handling his legal problems, that is.
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