DeSantis on Trump pardon: Not good ‘for almost 80-year-old former president’ to serve time

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said on the possibility of him issuing a pardon for former President Trump that he does not believe having “an almost 80-year-old former president” serve time in prison is in the country’s interest. 

DeSantis said during an interview on Megyn Kelly’s podcast, looking at the example of then-President Ford pardoning former President Nixon over Nixon’s role in the Watergate scandal, that the move caused Ford to receive some backlash, but it allowed the country to move forward. 

“I’m going to do what’s right for the country. I don’t think it would be good for the country to have an almost 80-year-old former president go to prison. It doesn’t seem like it would be a good thing,” he said. 

The interview first aired on SiriusXM.

DeSantis said he believes the country wants a “fresh start,” and leaders need to focus on the issues facing people. 

His comments come as Trump could soon face additional charges over his actions related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and broader efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. 

He has already been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in New York over a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels and a range of counts, including willful retention of national defense information, over his possession of classified and sensitive documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida after his presidency. 

The Justice Department filed an updated superseding indictment against Trump on Thursday adding additional charges against him in the classified documents case, accusing him of trying to delete surveillance footage that was to be used in the investigation. 

The hush money case is in state court and would not be under the purview of the president’s pardon power, but the documents and Jan. 6 cases are federal investigations that Trump could be pardoned for by the president. 

DeSantis previously said in May that he would consider pardoning Jan. 6 defendants determined to be victims of “political targeting,” potentially including Trump. 

He told Kelly that Trump could have “leaned in harder” to try to stop the unrest during the Jan. 6 attack, but he questioned if the former president’s conduct reached the level of being criminal. 

“You can identify flawed conduct. You can criticize his conduct. But you have to find a statue that was violated,” DeSantis said. 

Trump revealed last week that he received a letter from special counsel Jack Smith’s office notifying him that he is a target of the Jan. 6 investigation, often a sign that criminal charges are impending.

— Updated at 4:19 p.m.