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March 21, 2023

DeSantis errs in referring to President Trump's potential indictment

By Rajan Laad

Despite not officially declaring it as yet, Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis is most likely running for president.

He has purportedly broken fundraising records.  He has been commenting on national and international issues.  He recently spoke at Iowa, which is the kick-off state for the primaries.  He has received some noteworthy endorsements.

Following the GOP's underwhelming performance in last November's midterms and DeSantis's emphatic victory by nearly 20 points, narratives were pushed that it was the end of Trump and the beginning of DeSantis.

Facts were cited that DeSantis was re-elected in Florida by around 20 points, while Trump won Florida in 2020 by 3.4 points.  What remained unsaid was that Trump received 5.6 million votes in 2020, whereas DeSantis received 4.6 million votes.

But facts do not always matter during narrative-building.

Overall, DeSantis has done well running Florida.

He has also rather curiously modeled himself on President Trump, even imitating his body language and his behavior on the campaign trail.

Despite all that, Trump remains the frontrunner in the 2024 contest, leading by double-digits in some polls.

President Trump has been in the news regarding his possible indictment, which could happen this week or next.

All through the weekend, DeSantis maintained silence over this development.

In contrast, there was the swift and direct denunciation of the potential act by GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and even former vice president Mike Pence, who has fallen out of favor with Trump and is possibly aspiring to be the nominee in 2024.

Trump has aggressively been targeting DeSantis recently, realizing that DeSantis is his foremost adversary for the primary contest, just as Jeb Bush was in 2016.

Trump has nicknamed him Ron DeSantimonious, Ron DeSantus, and recently "Tiny D."

For DeSantis, these were hard choices.

If he denounced the targeting of Trump, he could end up elevating and promoting his number-one rival in a tough contest and perhaps hurting his hopes to become the GOP nominee.

If he attacked Trump or appeared indifferent, he would seem disloyal to the cause and could be seen as siding with Trump's persecutors.

Finally, yesterday, DeSantis addressed the situation.

This wasn't a statement, but a response to a question during a press conference about central bank digital currencies.

DeSantis began well by slamming the man running the witch hunt against Trump, New York district attorney Alvin Bragg, and reminded everyone of Bragg's record of being soft on crime, as well as his politically toxic Soros connection.

The Manhattan District Attorney is a Soros-funded prosecutor. ... They weaponize their office to impose a political agenda on society at the expense of the rule of law. ... The Soros District Attorneys are a menace to society.

Then, in a passive-aggressive move, DeSantis said the following:

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 can't speak to that.

Laughter broke out at the news conference, perhaps the way DeSantis intended.

He went on to mention "porn star hush money payments" another time, before pivoting back to criticism of what he called a "high-profile politicized prosecution."

It seemed obvious that DeSantis was going out of his way to remind everyone about the sleazy backstory to the investigation.

This could be forgiven, because Trump also has been targeting DeSantis.

After the pettiness, DeSantis had an opportunity to take the higher route and conclude with a mini-spiel about the perils of judicial overreach.

But instead, he chose a different path.

I have no interest in getting involved in some manufactured circus by some Soros D.A.

He's trying to do a political spectacle. He's trying to virtue signal for his base. I've got real issues I got to deal with here in the state of Florida.

He said he was not going to be involved in the matter in any way.

These were indefensible statements.

The weaponization of the criminal justice system to outlaw political opposition is among the gravest issues that plague America.  This is a threat to the founding values of the nation.

If the system is used to eliminate political rivals, democracy ceases to exist.

Legal egalitarianism is a fundamental tenet of any civilized democracy, where the punishment is meted out based on the crime and not the individual committing it.  Once that ends, the U.S. becomes a police state.

Today it is Trump; tomorrow, it could anyone else.

If DeSantis really stands for MAGA, he too could be a target sometime later. 

If Trump were really guilty of a crime, he deserves to be punished, and his being a former president should not matter.

But that isn't the case, either.

As Tucker Carlson revealed earlier today, the Federal Election Commission examined the transaction between Trump and Stormy Daniels and concluded that it was not criminal.

Such nondisclosure agreements are a common occurrence between celebrities and accusers. 

In Trump's case, the agreement was made a little before the 2016 presidential election.  Trump probably didn't want any more negative publicity after the Access Hollywood tape leaked.  Trump has denied that there was an affair but chose to buy Daniels's silence, which she willingly sold for a price.

The core of the indictment is Trump violating New York's Business Record Act by falsely reporting the payout to Stormy Daniels as "legal fees."

Even if that were true, it would constitute a misdemeanor, and the statute of limitations has run out for that.

Hillary Clinton's campaign paid for a dossier that fabricated claims about President Trump and reported it as legal fees.  The Clinton campaign was ordered to pay a four-figure fine and nothing more.

Clearly, the D.C. Democrat establishment is attempting to eliminate its foremost political rival from the race.

DeSantis must remember that it is not only President Trump who has been a target.

Protesters of January 6 were detained for prolonged periods of time and meted out draconian punishments.

Parents who opposed their children being indoctrinated with far-left propaganda were branded as domestic terrorists.

The Department of Homeland Security even branded opposition to lockdowns or spreading COVID-19 "misinformation" as a terror threat.

Last year, Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified that the DHS had set up a Disinformation Governance Board that would sit in judgment over the pronouncements of citizens.

The targeting of President Trump is just one example of a grave and unprecedented crisis. 

Hence, branding it a manufactured circus by the left, and claiming that he has real issues to focus on and that he will not be involved with this, is gravely wrong. 

This is a real issue.

Considering that the question was going to be asked, DeSantis could have been better prepared.

Releasing a statement would have been much easier.

Instead, DeSantis extemporaneously addressed the situation and showed either a lack of understanding of its gravity or an unwillingness to take on the D.C. establishment.  

They say a crisis often shows the true character of an individual.

Voters, including those who stand by DeSantis, will be watching this very closely.

Image: Screen shot from Townhall video via Twitter.

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