Former President Trump’s campaign blasted out a message to his supporters on Friday promoting comments from Republicans offering their support to Trump and slamming his indictment following Thursday’s bombshell news that the former president was facing criminal charges.
But even more notable than the number of Republicans included on the list was the one name that Trump’s campaign decided to leave off of it: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
DeSantis, who’s considered Trump’s most formidable Republican challenger in the 2024 GOP presidential primary should he officially announce a run, was among a number of Republicans who slammed Trump’s indictment on Thursday. The indictment follows a probe by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) over the former president’s possible involvement in a hush money payment that was made during his 2016 campaign to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Though details about the exact charges remain unknown publicly at this point, Republicans rallied together against the indictment, with some going to greater lengths to demonstrate their support for Trump than others.
“D.A. Bragg should resign for his abuse of power and targeting on Donald Trump,” tweeted Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as a White House press secretary under Trump. Her comment was among a slew of Republican statements that the Trump campaign blasted out.
DeSantis, too, slammed the indictment in a statement posted to Twitter. But he notably did not mention Trump anywhere in his remarks and noted that he would not aid any extradition efforts should the circumstances warrant it — underscoring simmering tensions between the two men while publicly taking a stand against Bragg.
“The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head. It is un-American,” DeSantis said.
“The Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney has consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct. Yet, now he is stretching the law to target a political opponent,” he continued. “Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda.”