Ron DeSantis Says Trump Should Have Done More to Stop January 6 but Prosecuting Him for It Would Be a Bridge Too Far

What does Ron DeSantis think of the news that Donald Trump is likely to be indicted for a whopping third time in the near future, this time for his attempt to stay in power after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden? Obviously, if DeSantis were just a regular old person with a functioning moral compass and sense of right and wrong, he would think that Trump being held accountable for his actions was a good thing. But the governor of Florida is not a regular old person with a functioning moral compass and sense of right and wrong. Rather, he’s a Republican running for president in 2023, meaning he has to walk the fine line of being mildly critical of Trump, who is his top rival for the GOP nomination, and not pissing of Trump supporters, who basically think the ex-president is being unjustly persecuted in a manner similar to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Which is why DeSantis performed a huge feat of mental gymnastics Tuesday, when asked about the looming potential indictment. “I think it was shown how he was in the White House and didn’t do anything while things were going on,” DeSantis told reporters. “He should have come out more forcefully, of course…but to try to criminalize that that’s a different issue entirely, and I think we want to be in a situation where you don’t have one side trying to constantly put the other side in jail. And that, unfortunately, is what we’re seeing now.“

Asked point-blank, “Do you believe that Trump bears any responsibility for what happened on January 6,” DeSantis responded: “Look, here’s the thing. Criminal charges is not just because you may have done something wrong it’s did you behave criminally. I think what we’ve seen in this country is an attempt to criminalize politics and an attempt to criminalize differences…we look at institutions, unfortunately, like our own FBI and Department of Justice and we’ve seen the politicization of those institutions, and we’ve seen them be weaponized against Americans. Pro-life activists can have the SWAT team come at them, meanwhile Hunter Biden, he would have been in jail if he were a Republican, and we all know that.”

Naturally, the governor did not mention the fact that his party very much wants to “weaponize” institutions against Americans; the fact that Trump has vowed to use the DOJ to go after Biden if elected; or that he himself has literally had people arrested and ruined their lives to score political points.

Speaking to Jake Tapper in an interview that aired Tuesday afternoon, DeSantis also said, of Trump, “I hope he doesn’t get charged,” and then sidestepped answering the question, “Are you saying that if [Jack Smith] finds evidence of criminality he should not charge Donald Trump anyway?”